Editing Discworld (section)

===Ankh Morpork City Watch===
The Police Force of Ankh Morpork and is the subject of several Discworld Books. At it's introduction it was divided into the Day Watch and the Night Watch and it was a joke. An atrophied rump of an institution. Before Vetinari it did not much beyond round up cattle, the less violent of drunks for a night in the cells, guard the gates (IE stand by and wave people through), snatch the occasional unlucky petty crook and (in the case of most officers) extort bribes. Under Vetinari's early reign, it was left to rot away down to a handful of people led by a Rich Idiot and a worn out inebriate named Sam Vimes, at least until one Carrot Ironfounderson showed up and set things in motion to see its rebirth into a proper Law Enforcement Agency. This includes proper training, a sense of professionalism, preventative policing, detective work, community relations, an Igor based health plan, a modern forensics department, and proportionately less Watch brutality and open speciesism than existed pre-integration.

The development of the Watch unfolds over several books, in each of which it grows and expands as an institution. The biggest themes in the book is the idea of law and self control. Before the Watch books, "justice" was a rubber stamp to legitimize the whims of the rich and powerful. If you messed with them or were in their way, they had goons deal with you. When they did something wrong, you looked away and pretended it never happened or (if was someone you knew) it was an accident/misunderstanding, possibly with a few dollars or veiled threats to buy your silence. In contrast, the Watch grows into something which can stand up to the Rich and Powerful. The Law is there and it's for everyone. But as important as making a stand is and catching thieves is, just as important is the self-control not to knock heads about in righteous anger at the drop of a hat or when you're worked up. Commander Sam Vimes is fully aware that all coppers are bastards; he emphasizes the proper control of this part of their nature during the training of new recruits and constantly struggles with himself to be only as much of a bastard as is necessary and legal. A number of those responsible for running the modern Watch were, in one way or another, involved in the Glorious Revolution of the 25th of May thirty years before setting present and know exactly where "I'm a copper so what I do is right" leads.