The Public Surveillance Unit or PSU is a fictional institution in the Judge Dredd

Judge Dredd

Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...

comic strip in 2000 AD

2000 AD (comic)

2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...

. It was introduced in progs (issues) 954 and 959 (1995). Notable PSU characters in the comic strip are Judge Niles

Judge Niles

Judge Rog Niles is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in British comic 2000 AD. He first appeared in 2000 AD prog 706 . He is the head of the Public Surveillance Unit...

, its chief, and Judge Roffman, who frequently assists Judge Dredd in surveillance, espionage and tracking criminals. Former PSU-chief Judge Edgar

Judge Edgar

Judge Jura Edgar is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. Although in most of her stories she is not evil or a murderer in the manner of most villains in the Judge Dredd series , she is nevertheless one of Dredd's adversaries...

 was also a recurring character and a rival of Dredd.

Overview

PSU is an organisation within the Justice Department

Judge (2000 AD)

Judge is a title held by several significant characters in the Judge Dredd series, which appears in the British comics 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine...

 of Mega-City One

Mega-City One

Mega-City One is a huge fictional city-state covering much of what is now the Eastern United States in the Judge Dredd comic book series. The exact boundaries of the city depend on which artist has drawn the story...

. It is responsible for monitoring every activity of every one of the 400 million citizens who inhabit the city. The whole city is full of surveillance cameras which automatically record and log every sighting of each citizen on the PSU computers – locations, dates and times, and associates. PSU also records every credit card transaction and every purchase anybody makes. They also keep fingerprints and DNA records. This information is used to build up detailed files on every individual in the city, updated throughout their lifetimes. It is normally used for solving crimes, but can also be used to keep dissidents under control and to keep an eye on democracy

Democracy (Judge Dredd storyline)

Democracy in the fictional future city of Mega-City One has been a significant recurring theme in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. In particular, a number of stories published since 1986 have addressed the issue of the Judges' dictatorial system of government, and efforts by the citizens to...

 activists.

PSU has its headquarters inside the Statue of Judgement

Statue of Judgement

The Statue of Judgement is a fictional structure in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. It is a mammoth statue of a Mega-City Judge, built in Mega-City One where New York City once was, next to the Statue of Liberty. In some stories it has been called the Statue of Justice...

. It also has staff at section houses across the city.

Heads of PSU

• Judge Jura Edgar
  Judge Edgar
  Judge Jura Edgar is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. Although in most of her stories she is not evil or a murderer in the manner of most villains in the Judge Dredd series , she is nevertheless one of Dredd's adversaries...
  
   (2100–2122)
• Judge Rog Niles
  Judge Niles
  Judge Rog Niles is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in British comic 2000 AD. He first appeared in 2000 AD prog 706 . He is the head of the Public Surveillance Unit...
  
  (2122–2132)
• Judge Benedetto (2132)
• Judge Rog Niles (2132–present)