Yeah it is an interesting concept and as Tom said the
"criminal" element has been tried a few times before with no great success.
A criminal element doesn't have to be purely citizen based as there are dodgey people in all walks of life so corrupt guardsmen would of course be an option.
But we
do have more civvies now (although many are alts) there is more scope. For instance my civvie Amon's bio hints at a past laced with gambling and dealing in stolen goods etc.
As for a
"police squad" I dunno...
In my opinion the guardsmen police Cove and with the Grenadiers being the Baron's bodyguard/guardians perhaps they would be entrusted with any police duties
or
maybe the Baron/Commander/Captain would assign a guardsman to investigate a crime and he/she in turn could form a squad of a few more guardsmen to investigate
or
perhaps it would fall into the church's jurisdiction?
We recently had a small scenario with Jonas Fleming??? Where we tried, hung and then burned him (we don't do things by half in Cove
).
I wasn't around when any alleged murders took place but i was there for the burning
and although it was kinda off the cuff it was fun and i think the participants enjoyed it.
Sooo... Sorry to babble on - I think some small criminal plotlines/scenarios could work and if they are a success maybe a criminal element could grow and become sustainable?
As for a dedicated police squad... Personally I'm not so sure. Leave it to the guardsmen I say.