Why cant I be a cop in GTA 5?

For the car, see Police Car. For links to law enforcement agencies in the various universes, see Law Enforcement.

An LCPD Police Cruiser on patrol in GTA IV.

Artwork of police in GTA IV

The police (also referred to as cops {most common}), pigs, popo by African-Americans, chota by Hispanics, babylon by Jamaicans, C.R.A.S.H., cherry tops, Five-O, fuzz, one time, flatfeet, or heat) are uniformed officers responsible for enforcing the law. They ensure public and social order, through the legitimized and restricted use of force. The police are present in all Grand Theft Auto games.

The main role of the Police in-game is to make crime difficult for the player - and to provide a brooding reliable enemy and a challenge both in and out of missions. They also make the game more realistic. This theme is present throughout the entire series, although the exact details vary between games.

The police, as well as all other forms of law enforcement in the Grand Theft Auto series, have been depicted as corrupt, lazy, aggressive, overzealous and often trigger-happy, although the levels of these vary greatly between each game.

Contents

Wanted Level

Main article: Wanted Level

The police work upon a Wanted Level system against the player. If the player is noticed performing a crime, he may gain a Wanted Star (increasing his wanted level). More serious crimes will grant a higher wanted level. Police responses vary depending on the wanted level, ranging from foot chases to calling in the helicopter, the Special Weapons and Tactics (NOOSE in HD Universe), the FBI (FIB in the HD Universe) or even the armed forces.

Relevant offenses include crashing into a police car, shooting pedestrians, having sex with prostitutes in GTA San Andreas, stealing vehicles, entering prohibited areas or occasionally unavoidable participation in certain missions (ex. bank heists). The police will not arrest you for trespassing on private property, traffic offenses (ex. speeding, running red lights). See a comprehensive list of arrestable offenses below.

If the player gets Busted by the police, the player will respawn at the nearest Police Station, but lose some money and all of his weapons, except in GTA San Andreas if CJ is dating Barbara as she is an officer herself. Higher levels of law enforcement are not concerned with arresting the player, but with killing the player, although will attempt vehicular arrest if the opportunity arises. Being Wasted is only temporary and the player will respawn at the nearest hospital with the loss of weapons and some money (no weapons are lost in HD Universe). In GTA Vice City Stories the player can pay a $2000 bribe to get their weapons back from either the hospital or police station.

Wanted levels can be reduced by the use of a Pay 'n' Spray. In GTA III, there may be rare occasions when police cars try to block the player's entrance to the Pay 'n' Spray, especially with higher Wanted levels. The Wanted Level in GTA IV system allows the player to evade a wanted level by escaping from a certain radius, based on the last place they were spotted. The higher the wanted level, the larger the area.

In the 3D and HD Universe, at 4-star wanted levels, heavily armed, highly trained police officers will come after the protagonist and try killing or sometimes arresting him. They all drive Enforcer trucks and are armed with weapons that will make short work of the player. Their Enforcers are fast and can smash up a vehicle in a small amount of time. Their trucks also form roadblocks. They have Micro Uzis in GTA III and San Andreas, and Uzis in Vice City, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories. SWAT teams are a real threat to the player and come in 4 men per team. Also, in Vice City and Vice City Stories, undercover "Vice Squad" officers armed with Uzis in Cheetahs will chase the player at 3 stars and above. Their cars are fast, and they come two per unit.

The Police AI is more advanced in Vice City Stories, rendering them more tenacious in pursuing the player, even at a one-star wanted level. It is nearly impossible to carjack a police vehicle with offices inside without being instantly busted, and they will also more aggressively climb on board vehicles and otherwise pursue Victor, which makes getting busted more likely.

Grand Theft Auto IV

Main article: Wanted Level in GTA IV

In GTA IV, whenever NPCs are arrested and escorted to the police vehicle, the police officer will usually drive the NPC criminal around the road without even making effort to transport them to the Police Station. The criminal will eventually get off if something interrupts the arrest, without even being treated as resisting arrest, probably because the officer (like Paramedics) weren't programmed to drive a NPC criminal to a station. NPCs arrested by hand however, are treated as resisting arrest, if the criminal is aggressive or escapes, the Police will try to stop or kill them. This mechanic can be used to the player's advantage; should the player lure an aggressive NPC towards one or more police officers, there is a decent chance the police will get the attacker off the player's back by arresting them.

Grand Theft Auto V

Main article: Wanted Level in GTA V

In GTA V, police officers now act aggressively towards NPCs, engaging in car chases and gunfights against pursuers. Like in San Andreas, helicopters can be found flying around South Los Santos looking for crime. They can also be found in the skies during a pursuit, whether be an NPC or a protagonist. Unlike in GTA IV, they do not arrest NPCs and instead shoot on sight, whenever they are armed or not. This could be because the game may lack a "Busted" mechanic for NPCs. NPCs also react to Wanted Levels unlike other games, such as prostitutes not entering a player's car near law enforcers, or if a police vehicle, driven by an NPC or player goes past them, they will flee the area. Families gang members will shoot at police officers if they are pursuing Franklin on a 1 or 2 star wanted level, or if an NPC gang member is chased by law enforcers, their homies will shoot at the pursuers. Officers also tend to be shot at when patrolling a gang neighborhood. Strangely, police cars are only usually found near stations, they are rarely anywhere in the city. If a person is killed on street, the police will examine the scene before returning to patrol, however this usually happen only if the police has shot and killed the person. If the Paramedics do not arrive to treat the wounded people, the police may radio one or leave the scene instead. Sometimes, police officers might even use civilian cars to pursue the player when in pursuit, appearing on the radar as normal police vehicles. This happens more often when the player steals a police vehicle and abandons their previous vehicle nearby.

List of Police Departments

Main article: Police Departments

Grand Theft Auto

• Liberty City Police Department
• San Andreas Police Department
• Vice City Police Department

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 and 1969

• Metropolitan Police Service

Grand Theft Auto 2

• Anywhere City Police Department

Grand Theft Auto III

• Liberty City Police Department (LCPD)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

• Vice City Police Department (VCPD)

Grand Theft Auto Advance

• Liberty City Police Department (LCPD)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

• San Andreas Police Department:
  • Los Santos Police Department (LSPD)
  • San Fierro Police Department (SFPD)
  • Las Venturas Police Department (LVPD)
  • Rural Police (SAPD)
  • San Andreas Coast Guard (SAPD)

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

• Liberty City Police Department (LCPD)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

• Vice City Police Department (VCPD)

Grand Theft Auto IV

• Liberty City Police Department (LCPD)
• Alderney State Police

Grand Theft Auto V

Traffic Officer after the Jewelery heist

• North Yankton State Patrol (only seen in Prologue)
• Los Santos Police Department (LSPD)
• Los Santos County Sheriff (LSSD)
• Los Santos Traffic/Parking enforcement (A traffic officer is seen in the jewel heist, but no more officers are spotted in the game)
• San Andreas Highway Patrol
• San Andreas Park Ranger

Arrestable Offenses

• Beating a person with or without a melee weapon, even in self-defense.
• Throwing things at people.
• Aiming a weapon at an officer.
• Grand Theft Auto.
• Running a pedestrian over with a vehicle.
• Running over a policeman (usually gives 2 stars if the player did run over people before; instantly 2 stars in GTA Vice City).
• Shooting a firearm near an officer, even if nobody is hurt.
• Using a chainsaw near an officer, even if nobody is hurt, with the exception of GTA San Andreas.
• Damaging a police vehicle. Pushing another vehicle into a police vehicle will neither award the player nor the NPC a wanted level, regardless of how hard the impact is (damaging a vacant police vehicle in some games sometimes won't attain a wanted level).
• Attempting to carjack a police car (with or without occupants).
• Manslaughter.
• Causing a petrol kiosk to explode.
• Drive-bys.
• Firing gunshots.
• Robbing houses (unless the player escapes in 10 seconds successfully or not even being spotted).
• Trespassing inside a police station. Only applicable in GTA Vice City and later versions.
• Knocking off stores (GTA Vice City Stories, even after passing all Protection Racket mission).
• Being spotted driving a vehicle with the alarm going off.
• Bumping into an officer when he is holding an arrest (does not always give a wanted level).
• Breaking through the tollbooth without paying (GTA IV onwards).
• Spraying gang tags.
• Entering a police station carrying anything but melee weapons.
• Entering or flying over a restricted area, which could end up giving the player a 4 stars wanted level.
• Entering parts of the map which aren't unlocked (applies to GTA San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV).
• Exploding a propane tank, even if the player didn't do it. One example is whereby having someone else's car crashing into it. However, this bug has since been fixed in GTA IV.
• Killing a shop owner - If Toni kills the owner of Phil Cassidy's Fully Cocked Gun Shop in GTA Liberty City Stories, the player gets 1 star wanted level. It also works at Ammu Nation.
• Selling drugs - during the side mission Distribution in GTA Vice City Tommy will get 1 star per every fourth drug deal; during drug dealing in GTA Chinatown Wars, a 'bust' of 2 stars sometimes occurs.
• Smuggling drugs - the player occasionally gets 4 wanted stars in the Smuggling mission in GTA Vice City Stories.
• Other missions - some of GTA's missions give the player 1~5 wanted levels: note the fact that the player cannot get a 6 stars wanted level unless the player kills FBI agents.
• If Tommy completes a mission with a wanted level of 5 or 6 stars, it will be retained to one star if there are FBI or Army officers nearby (confirmed in GTA Vice City).
• Destroying a Securicar with the use of weapons (applies to Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V).
• Climbing on top of an occupied police vehicle (HD Universe).

List of Notable Police Officers

Main article: Police Officers

• Ray Machowski (LCPD) - a mission giver in Grand Theft Auto III and a character in its prequel, LCS.
• Leon McAffrey (LCPD) - a mission giver in Liberty City Stories and a minor character in III.
• Frank Tenpenny (LSPD CRASH) - an antagonist in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
• Eddie Pulaski (LSPD CRASH) - another antagonist in San Andreas, Tenpenny's partner.
• Jimmy Hernandez (LSPD CRASH) - the third member of Tenpenny's group, killed for betrayal.
• Ralph Pendelbury (LSPD CRASH) - a former member of Tenpenny's group, killed for being an Internal Affairs informant.
• Bryan Forbes (VCPD) - a minor antagonist in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
• Francis McReary (LCPD) - a mission giver in Grand Theft Auto IV.
• Ronson (LSPD) - an LSPD promo character for Grand Theft Auto V.
• Vasquez (LSPD) - a minor character in Grand Theft Auto Online.

Online Multiplayer

GTA IV's Multiplayer

A Police Maverick in GTA San Andreas.

In GTA IV, the Police in Multiplayer Mode will not arrest the player, but will shoot at them in an attempt to kill them, though they can still pull the player out of a car.

At 4 stars the police send in an Annihilator with two assault rifle wielding NOOSE agents firing from the sides of the chopper. The police will arrive in cars containing two police officers. One will carry a Pistol while the other will (usually) carry a Pump Action Shotgun, regardless of what guns are allowed in the online game. NOOSE agents arrive in NOOSE Enforcers only, as the NOOSE Cruiser, the NOOSE Patriot, and the FIB Buffalo only appear in Race and GTA Race multiplayer modes, albeit they are only used by the players.

NOOSE agents are equipped mainly with Carbine Rifles and SMGs, but sometimes they have a Pump Shotgun and NOOSE agents will sometimes fall back to their pistol if they lose their weapon.

The FIB does not appear in multiplayer at all, and the Police Maverick also only appears in the Race and GTA Race modes. It is notable that Wanted Levels are usually cumulative if multiple players are riding in the same vehicle. When faced with multiple players with wanted levels, the police usually target the nearest player.

The player can still use a Pay 'n' Spray in multiplayer, though the same rules using them when police are nearby in single player apply to multiplayer as well. If the player is shot in a Deathmatch, it will count as a death on purpose and will lose $100. Police can be turned off online.

GTA Online

In Grand Theft Auto Online, the police are a constant threat, and cannot be turned off, though they don't appear in some missions and game modes. At one and two stars, officers in the area will be notified and will patrol the streets searching for the player. The police will open fire at all costs. At three stars, a Police Maverick will be sent after the player, making a possible escape much more difficult. At four stars, NOOSE officers are sent after the player, as well as more helicopters. Standard police units will become much rarer, as NOOSE begin to take an advantage. NOOSE officers will be armed with Pump Shotguns and Carbine Rifles. At five stars, the presence of NOOSE increases even more, and Police Maverick units being more accurate and the fire rate increasing.

Can you become a cop in GTA 5 story mode?