The Panoply is an elite law enforcement agency of the Demarchist regime on Yellowstone, and the police force for the Glitter Band. It exists in its own dedicated habitat, governed by an armed force of prefects.
Prefect hierarchy
The law enforcement ranks of the Panoply's officers and employees, known as prefects.
- Cadet
- Prefect in training, a law enforcement trainee.
- Prefect
- Freshly graduated Prefect, but not yet qualified for assignments outside of Panoply
- Field Prefect
- Prefects experienced enough to police the Glitter Band.
- Senior Prefect
- Field Prefects that have shown themselves experienced enough to serve the administration of Panoply. Usually working from an office, they still retain field status.
- Supreme Prefect
- The chief of the entire organisation. At the start of the novel, this position is held by Jane Aumonier.
Equipment and operations
Employees of the Panoply does not have the right to carry armed weaponry as standard, with the exception of whiphounds, multi-purpose melee sidearms (with whip mode, sword mode, surveillance mode, etc.) that are used primarily in defence or for robotic scouting of premises. If the Panoply feels the need to use heavier weaponry (e.g. plasma rifles), this must be voted on by the entire Glitter Band in an emergency poll before any action can be undertaken (although Panoply command ignores this limitation in the novel Aurora Rising, and uses heavy weapons in spite of a vote against it). In this regard, Panoply can only exist if the populace is happy for them to proceed, which defuses much potential tension in this particular society.
One issue the Prefects have to grapple with is that they can only enforce the right to vote and access to abstraction; they are not permitted to stop any other human rights violations. This eventually drives Prefect Gaffney to assist Aurora, the antagonist, in her takeover bid.
Spacecraft utilised by law enforcement personnel of the Panoply included Panoply cutters and system cruisers.
Appearances
- A Prefect Dreyfus Emergency spinoff series
- Aurora Rising (2007)*
- Open and Shut (2018) (short story)**
- Elysium Fire (2018)
* - originally published as The Prefect
** - short midquel, set between the two novels
Notable prefects
- Jane Aumonier (Supreme Prefect)
- Tom Dreyfus (Field Prefect in Aurora Rising, Senior Prefect in Elysium Fire)
- Sparver Bancal (Deputy Field Prefect in Aurora Rising)
- Thalia Ng (Deputy Field Prefect in Aurora Rising, previously Cadet)
- Sheridan Gaffney
- Gaston Clearmountain
- Dr. Demikhov
- Lilian Baudry
- Michael Crissel