VCPD in GTA III Era

For information about how the VCPD pursue the player, see Wanted Level in GTA III Era.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY VCPD in GTA III Era
Games:	GTA Vice City GTA Vice City Stories
Locations:	Vice City
Leader:	Unknown
Type:	Law Enforcement agency
Enemies:	Tommy Vercetti Victor Vance Vercetti Gang Vance Crime Family Gangs in GTA Vice City Gangs in GTA Vice City Stories Criminals
Affiliations:	FBI SWAT Military CIA French Secret Service
Vehicles:	Police Car VCPD Cheetah VCPD Maverick VCPD Wintergreen SWAT Enforcer Predator
Weapons:	Pistol Nightstick Micro-SMG (Vice Squad only)
Businesses:	Law Enforcement
Members:	Colin Allcars T.J. Sucker Bob Bruce Officer Butts Officer Cracker The Specialist P. Rowe (possible)

Hostile police officers in GTA Vice City, with their brown uniform and police cars.

The Vice City Police Department (VCPD) is the main law enforcement entity in Vice City, appearing in both Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

As Vice City is meant to mimic the city of Miami, the VCPD can easily be assumed to be based on the real life Miami-Dade Police Department and/or Miami Beach Police Department. As of 1986, the VCPD's reach in the city extends to the waters of the city and also the air.

Description

Police stations

There are police stations in each of four locations throughout Vice City: Little Havana, Downtown, Vice Point and Washington Beach.

Equipment

A Police Car in GTA Vice City.

The VCPD's car of choice circa the 1980s are green and white Police/VCPD Cruisers that can be obtained from every police station, although they are occasionally locked (there are two at every station in VC, and one at every station in VCS). The police car is very fast and light, prone to easy flipping and launching off the ground. However, it is extremely durable, making the VCPD a force to be reckoned with, except for under heavy gunfire. In Vice City Stories, officers also travel in VCPD Wintergreens, but do not chase the player at a 2-star wanted level due to the risk of being dismounted and injured. They are all black with red lights and there is one at every police station (except Washington Beach).

VCPD officers wear uniforms consisting of a tan military shirt, brown pants, and black shoes. These officers carry a nightstick and a pistol and they will do anything take down criminals on sight. They commonly travel alone in their cruisers, but travel in pairs when pursuing a player with a 2-star wanted level or above. They are also seen walking a foot beat, often pursuing fleeing criminals and gangsters (strangely including the soldiers at Fort Baxter Air Base).

Police officers of the Marine Unit patrol the waters around Vice City in Predators and will shoot the player using the Predator's machine guns if the player enters the waterways with a 2-star wanted level. They are white on top and blue on the bottom, and can be found below the Links Bridge in Leaf Links (in VC. However, in VCS, they can only be found patrolling the waters). At 3-stars, the VCPD will begin to set up roadblocks and deploy spike strips. The VCPD Chief commissioner in 1984 is called McGinley as referenced by VNN. It is unknown if he still holds the position in 1986.

Vehicles

In GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, VCPD officers on the streets commonly drive the Police Car, which serves as their primary pursuit vehicle of choice when the player attains a 1-star wanted level or higher, and will continue to appear in conjunction with Vice Squad, SWAT, and FBI forces in a 3-star wanted level or higher.

The VCPD also extends their authority in the air in GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, with the use of Police Mavericks, which commonly patrol the sky even when the player does not have a wanted level. Police Mavericks will occasionally join a 1 or 2 star wanted level when they happen to be within close proximity of the player, but the helicopter is certain to appear only when the player has a 3-star wanted level or higher. At sea, the VCPD is equipped with Predator boats, which only appear when the player is wanted at a two star wanted level or higher. The boats are armed with two .50 calibre machine guns on each side of the hull, which the police fire at the player with.

Weapons and other portable equipment

Police officers primarily carry two types of weapons; the Nightstick and the Pistol. As a weapon of defense, a nightstick is wielded by the police officers. The police use their fists to beat up street criminals and gang members, and the nightstick to beat up the player on a one-star wanted level. The standard issue police firearm is a Glock 22 pistol. This is used when making arrests, pursuing suspects, and self defense. The police do not usually fire their guns at the player, however, officers do shoot at one star if they feel threatened (for example, if the player aims a firearm in their direction or drives dangerously close to said officer), or stands in sight out the police, but in a location that cannot be accessed by the police (e.g. on top of a car). Police also fire their guns in order to threaten the player, a gang, or street criminals. Such behavior is common in Vice Point, around the North Point Mall area.

The only time VCPD officers carry different weapons is in the following missions:

• No Escape?, where police officers can be seen using Uz-I SMGs or pistols, with the latter being used like a normal person would (one handed).
• Cop Land, where there are police officers armed with M4s guarding the North Point Mall. These police officers will not attack the player except if provoked, and will generally kill any enemy police officer trying to slow the player's escape to the Vercetti Estate.

The police also carry personal radios in order to recieve information about the player's whereabouts through the VCPD dispatcher. At the beginning of each Vigilante mission level, they will also receive information about the target criminals' initial spawning locations with a message that says, “Suspect last seen in (insert location)”.

Uniforms

The uniforms of the VCPD consist of a brown short-sleeved shirt, brown trousers, and black shoes.

Branches

The VCPD also houses Vice City's Vice Squad, which appears at a 3-star wanted level or higher. Vice Squad members drive VCPD Cheetahs and are armed with Micro-SMGs and always travel in pairs. They are headquartered at the Little Havana station, as a VCPD Cheetah can be found in the back (in VC [except for the PS2 versions of the game], but in VCS the Cheetah is only found while pursuing the player at a 3-star wanted level or higher).

At the Downtown station, a Police Maverick is stationed on the roof. These helicopters are deployed at a 3-star wanted level and will shoot the player from the air using its invisible machine gun under the fuselage. The helicopter is mainly green in GTA Vice City, but in GTA Vice City Stories, it is mainly tan.

Additionally, the Downtown station is home to Vice City's SWAT team, which appears at the 4-star wanted level. These highly trained officers travel in fours in the fast and durable Enforcer, wielding Micro-SMGs. At a 4-star wanted level, they will replace the police cruisers in roadblocks, while still appearing alongside the cruisers on the streets. When the player stays in one place at a 4-star wanted level or higher, S.W.A.T. officers will rappel down from the police helicopters, although one S.W.A.T. officer can still be sent in at a 3-star wanted level. They are lethal to a player on-foot, even with armor, and can turn a perfectly good automobile into a smoking vehicle or even a flaming and exploding death-trap in seconds with their heavy gunfire. The Enforcer in GTA Vice City sports a green-and-white body color while the GTA Vice City Stories rendition is black and white.

It is also hinted, according to the official Vice City website, that there is another branch of the VCPD, the Vice City Bureau of Investigation (VCBI), who are investigating Vice City's criminal underworld and the events that unfold during GTA Vice City. As seen through the window of their office, the VCBI is located somewhere along Ocean Drive in Vice City. It is unknown as to whether the VCBI is a separate entity of it's own or if it is a branch of the VCPD.

Named VCPD employees

Name	Unit in the department	Known Year of Service
Colin Allcars	Motorcycle Unit	1984
T.J. Sucker	Patrol Unit	1984
Bob	Bureau of Investigation	1986
Bruce	Bureau of Investigation	1986
Officer Butts	Vice Unit	1984
Officer Cracker	Vice Unit	1984
The Specialist	SWAT Team	1984
P. Rowe	Chuff Security	1986

Trivia

The Police Cruiser in a prerelease screenshot.

• Before GTA Vice City's release, the livery of the VCPD's vehicles more closely resembled that of the Miami Beach Police Department.
• At three-star wanted levels onwards, Uzi-carrying Vice Squad members will pursue the player in VCPD Cheetahs. These Vice City Vice Squad members always arrive as two unaided officers, dressed casually, but tastefully. These two gun-toting playboys are meant to emulate Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs from the 1980's television show Miami Vice, a drama focusing on well-dressed, seemingly overpaid vice officers in Miami, who drive expensive sports cars and live a life of luxury and adventure. They are slightly more dangerous than other officers, but they can still be killed otherwise.
• Unlike the LCPD in GTA IV and GTA Chinatown Wars, VCPD officers will not help the player if he is attacked by pedestrians or gang members. However, if the player chooses to retaliate against them, he will receive an instant one star wanted level.
• Similar to the LCPD in GTA IV and GTA Chinatown Wars, VCPD police officers are willing to run over pedestrians and even fellow law enforcement officers just to kill the player.

Gallery

GTA Vice City

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  A single VCPD officer wielding a nightstick.

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  A VCPD "Police" car.

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  An undercover variant of the Cheetah.

• 

  The Vice Squad.

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  A VCPD Enforcer.

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  A VCPD Police Maverick.

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  A VCPD Predator.

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  Washington Beach VCPD station.

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  Vice Point VCPD station.

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  Little Havana VCPD station.

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  Downtown VCPD station.

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  Tommy Vercetti donning a "Cop" outfit.

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  Lance Vance posing as a VCPD officer.

GTA Vice City Stories

• 

  A VCPD officer.

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  A "VCPD Cruiser".

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  A VCPD Wintergreen with a police biker.

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  A "VCPD Cheetah".

• 

  A "VCPD Enforcer".

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  A VCPD Police Maverick.

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  A VCPD Predator.

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  Washington Beach station.

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  Vice Point station.

See also

• LCPD in GTA III Era
• VCPD in GTA 1
• Police Bikers