Star Wars: 10 Strange Laws ALL Empire Employees Follow
3. Use Any & All Means Necessary To Apprehend A Known Criminal
The rules of engagement for any armed authority are absolutely crucial, in Star Wars just as they are in reality. Those with the power to end lives in a fleeting second need to have that power regulated and clearly defined.
The 1997 Legends sourcebook for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, "No Disintegrations," namedrops an especially curious instruction for Imperial military officers when it comes to dealing with known criminals.
Imperial Remandation Order 421BX72 states that officers can use "any and all means necessary" to apprehend a felon, yet offers no further specificity on exactly what that means.
Basically, it gives Empire soldiers an awful lot of leeway to read between the lines and simply execute a nuisance criminal, in turn denying those accused of crimes the fair safety of due process.
It's all totally on-brand for the Empire to have such little regard for life, of course.