LCPD in GTA IV Era

For the LCPD in the GTA III Era, see LCPD in GTA III Era. For information about how the LCPD pursue the player, see Wanted Level in GTA IV Era and Wanted Level in GTA Chinatown Wars.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
LCPD in GTA IV Era
Games: GTA IV
The Lost and Damned
The Ballad of Gay Tony
GTA Chinatown Wars
Locations: Liberty City
Alderney
Leader: Mitt Fitzsimmons
Type: Law Enforcement agency
Enemies: Niko Bellic
Johnny Klebitz
Luis Fernando Lopez
Huang Lee
Gangs in Liberty City.
Affiliations: FIB
NOOSE
Wu Lee
Fredo Volpe
Vehicles: Police Cruiser
Police Patrol
Police Stockade
Police Maverick
Police Predator
Police Buffalo
Police Stinger
Police Bike
Weapons: Pistol
Pump Action Shotgun
MP5
Carbine Rifle
Businesses: Law Enforcement
Members: Francis McReary
Anthony Pizzerelli
Jon Atkinson
Wade Heston
Charlie (deceased)
Lenny Macelton
Mitch
Chuck Montresse
Brian O'Toole
Albert Thomas
Daryl Bent (suspended)

The Liberty City Police Department (LCPD) in the GTA IV Era, is the police department for the Greater Liberty City Area, incorporating Liberty City and the neighbouring area of Alderney, in Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which share the same rendition of Liberty City. The LCPD is based on the New York City Police Department (NYPD). The State Police of Alderney share vehicles and facilities with the LCPD in the LCPD's Alderney jurisdiction.

Overview

The Liberty City Police Department is around 40,000 officers strong, with many different roles, most notably on beat patrol all throughout Liberty City. They reign in a "complete operational" status over Liberty City, meaning they are the single law enforcement organization in the whole city, besides the FIB and NOOSE. The department is then organized into different divisions. They include Highway Patrol Units (while usually freeway/bridge duties are transferred to a State Police agency), tactical response units from NOOSE tactical units, aviation units, plain clothes units and the harbour units. The Aviation Unit of the LCPD (formed in 2001) has a fleet of several helicopters (consisting of Maverick type copters) which are on constant patrol. Aviation assistance can be summoned from one of the four stations with aviation facilities. The Police Mavericks can be seen often in the skies of Liberty City, most often patrolling with NOOSE Annihilators above major bridges such as the Hickey Bridge and East Borough Bridge. The LCPD is otherwise underfunded, unable to afford specialized pursuit vehicles and as a result have to use their regular patrol cars to chase suspects. They often injure or kill the very citizens they are assigned to "protect and serve" - many police cars accidentally hit and/or kill civilians while chasing the player.

View of the front of the massive LCPD station in East Holland.

The LCPD is known for its very aggressive techniques in pursuing crime, most notably, saturating an affected area of high crime rate with dozens of officers and patrol cars. They take the famous NYPD rationale of having a large police presence ensuring prevention and quick response. In times of emergency they respond appropriately, and pour all available resources into stopping or containing an incident. The LCPD (along with NOOSE and the FIB) become extremely aggressive when the player is wanted, and continue to shoot at the player even after the protagonist has died and "grayed out". While chasing criminals, the player or occasionally whilst driving, police vehicles hit civilians with their cars.

LCPD officers are sometimes seen writing tickets (as noticed around Middle Park and in Highway Patrol duties on the various bridges where they await speeders). Officers on foot patrol are sometimes seen chasing and apprehending criminals, which after they are caught, a radio car is contacted to take the criminal away for processing. The LCPD is also on an active recruiting campaign, with "Join The LCPD" posters and billboards at select locations throughout the city, and adorning the front of the LCPD The Triangle/Star Junction Sub-Station, (which is in front of a Liberty City Services Booth). They also appear in the streets if the player dials 911 to summon a police car with two officers inside. One officer will check around for any incidents. If a criminal attacks an officer, two officers wield pistols and pursue the criminal and catch the protagonist at gunpoint. If there aren't any criminals around, they will get back inside the vehicle and leave. Unlike civilians, who report crimes via the telephone, a lengthy process, police sightings are reported immediately. Further crime, attacking a police officer, and evading arrest will increase the player's wanted level. At two stars, police cars are sent to the area. At three stars, NOOSE vehicles are deployed, as well as police maverick-type helicopters. At four stars, NOOSE Annihilators and FIB Buffalos, complete with four FIB Special Agents in body armor and equipped with automatic weapons, are deployed. LCPD officers are authorized to commandeer civilian vehicles to continue chasing a suspect or respond to an emergency, often stating it as "Official Police Business" to the driver as they pull them out of the car.

Structure

Senior management

Police Commissioner

Deputy Police Commissioner

Police Commissioner for Public Affairs

Rank structure

  • Lieutenant
  • Detective
  • Officer

Police stations

Equipment

Vehicles

In GTA IV, LCPD officers on the streets commonly drive two variants of police cars: The Police Patrol and the Police Cruiser, which serve as their primary pursuit vehicle of choice when the player attains a 1-star or 2-star wanted level, and will continue to appear in conjunction with NOOSE and FIB forces in a 3-star wanted level or higher. In GTA Chinatown Wars, the LCPD is only equipped with the Police Patrol (although game art of both the Police Patrol and Police Cruiser are still used when the player is Busted), and only appears up to a 4-star wanted level (alongside NOOSE Enforcers), as the FIB takes over at 5 stars.

The LCPD also extends their authority in the air in GTA IV with the use of Police Mavericks, which commonly patrol the sky even when the player does not have a wanted level. Police Maverick 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; the NOOSE's Annihilator takes over from 5 stars onwards. At sea, the LCPD is equipped with Predator boats, which only appear when the player is wanted at any level. The boats carry two more officers armed with rifles at the back, opening fire at the player.

The Ballad of Gay Tony also includes two more LCPD vehicles, the Police Buffalo (named "Police Cruiser" in game) and the Police Bike, a police motorcycle. Both vehicles are not used by LCPD officers, and are only available in The Ballad of Gay Tony multiplayer. A third police vehicle, the Police Stinger, does not bear the LCPD's signature blue-and-white livery, but does sport the LCPD logo.

Weapons and other portable equipment

Police officers carry a range of equipment. As a weapon of defense, a collapsed ASP extendible baton is in place on the officer's utility belts but officers do not utilize the weapon at all. The baton is reinstated in the GTA Chinatown Wars rendition of the LCPD. The standard issue police firearm is a Glock 22 pistol. This is used when making arrests, pursuing suspects and self defense. If an officer is disarmed, they will resort to using their fists to defend themselves. If an officer is patrolling in a vehicle, and the suspect has a two star wanted level or more, the officer carries an Ithaca 37 pump shotgun. Officers patrolling at places of high security such as The Statue of Happiness, Civilization Committee Headquarters, and the Rotterdam Tower stations carry MP-10 SMG (only in missions) and M4A1 Carbine assault rifles, which are a good deterrent of terrorist activity and crime. When the suspect has a five star wanted level or more, officers will attempt to shoot the player with PSG-1 sniper rifles from rooftops, specifically those in Chinatown and The Exchange.

The police also carry personal radios in order to report crimes and call for assistance - they can sometimes be seen talking into them while patrolling, as can Security Guards.

Uniforms

The uniforms of the LCPD resemble that of the famous New York Police Department (NYPD). Depending on the in-game weather, the officers may be wearing different uniforms, such as a raincoat marked "LCPD" and a white hat cover. Officers uniforms are generally navy blue with black buttons. Officers can wear either a long sleeve, short sleeve, or short sleeve with a long sleeve black under shirt. Officers also have the choice of wearing hats, ties and either leather or normal police jackets. The officer's tie clips have "LCPD" engraved in the middle. Officers who wear sky blue shirts, as opposed to navy blue shirts, are traffic enforcement officers, as seen by the different badge and patch on the officers with sky blue shirts. Despite the fact the game classifies them as traffic enforcement officers, they do not perform the usual duties of traffic enforcement officers, such as issuing citations. Traffic enforcement officers, unlike their real-life counterparts, are armed.

Alderney Police wear different uniforms than Liberty City police, despite being from the same department. Alderney police uniforms bear resemblance to those of the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). However, their stations bear the LCPD logo, as do their vehicles.

Website

The in-game Internet features an official LCPD website which can be found at www.libertycitypolice.com. The website features a secret link at the bottom of the page to the criminal database, which contains profiles for all characters in the game.

When looking closely at the police logo it can clearly be noticed that the LCPD are known for police brutality. In the middle of the logo, two officers are shown with batons dragging a man on the floor. Below this the scales of justice are weighing a coffee cup and a doughnut. Alderney Police bear a State Police logo on their shoulder pads, the same as NJSP, although the stations bear the LCPD logos, as do their vehicles.

Police in Scripted Missions

Sometimes, police (during missions) just appear in a certain mission for another purpose rather than to attack the player, this happens through out the entire storyline of GTA IV to GTA Chinatown Wars. One of the reasons for this is to add an even more since of realism to the gameplay and also the theme of the story.

Police Scripted Missions in GTA IV

(This list starts with GTA IV and ends with The Ballad of Gay Tony).

  • Jamaican Heat - After you've killed all the gang members, two police officers will arrive and run onto the opposite side of the street you're on.
  • Crime and Punishment - After the second half of the cutscene, if Niko Bellic runs up the street he will see a police cruiser stop in front of a house an run into the backyard.
  • Rigged to Blow - Once you blow up the garage, a police cruiser and a fire truck will surround the area.
  • Russian Revolution - When Dimitri Rascalov and Ray Bulgarin leave the building, officers will spawn outside, ready to attack Little Jacob and you.
  • Union Drive - While chasing the black-mailers, a police cruiser will attempt to chase the black-mailers, causing the cruiser to get flipped over in the process.
  • Buoys Ahoy - While chasing the hitmen, the police will attempt to interfere and accidentally blow themselves up in the process.

The Lost and Damned

  • It's War - After killing the first gang, the police will show up to investigate the crime but will not harm the player.
  • Action/Reaction - Once the last cutscene is finished, Johnny leaves the area quickly, having that cops are going to show up and give him a wanted level if he attempted to stay.
  • This Shit's Cursed - The Police Radio can be heard after shooting a triad or two off the top of the roof, causing then a cutscene to show Billy Grey being arrested (the last police radio also says that he is incarcerated).

The Ballad of Gay Tony

  • Boulevard Baby - Can appear when you leave the club, but leave quickly because if you don't, you get a wanted level.
  • Clocking Off - The officers will appear when Luis Lopez, Armando Torres, and Henrique Bardas leaves the area with the drugs.
  • No. 3 - They appear through the second half of the mission but they never actually hurt the player while he has the three-star wanted level.

Murders committed

Trivia

  • On the Rockstar Games Social Club website, players can find the "LCPD Blotter", which lists statistics about crimes committed by GTA IV players as a whole.
  • In Grand Theft Auto IV, the LCPD patrol in Alderney. However, Alderney is a separate state from Liberty City. The only difference between the Liberty City police and Alderney police is the uniform and sometimes, the accent of the officers.
  • At higher wanted levels (five and six stars), the LCPD seem to begin disappearing as more FIB and NOOSE officers begin to show up. This may indicate that the LCPD are too afraid of death to take on the player, or simply are handing over the chase to the better prepared and more capable law enforcement agencies.
  • When the player has a three star wanted level, the officer talking through the tannoy of the police helicopter often shouts "This is the LPCD!", when in fact it should be LCPD. This could indicate that the helicopter pilots care less about shouting LCPD to the player than normal officers.
  • At the LCPD station in East Holland, If the player enters the parking lot in the back and ascends the stairs up to the helipad, he/she can find one to three officers surrounding a body.
  • On the beach in the Northwestern corner of Bohan, you can sometimes find one lone officer standing next to a body.
  • GTA IV is unique for letting the player be able to shoot the gun off an enemy without killing the enemy. If the player shoots any weapons other than a pistol off from the officer, he will pull out a pistol. If the player shoots the pistol off from the officer, the officer would flee. This also applies to the FIB and NOOSE.
  • In The Ballad of Gay Tony, police officers are more aggressive, doing drive-bys at 4 stars instead of 5 stars and wielding more powerful weaponry such as Assault SMGs and Automatic Shotguns. Officers also wield Advanced MGs from helicopters.
  • If you choose to go out the front of the hospital in the mission The Snow Storm, one of the officers will wield a Combat Shotgun, uncharacteristic, as the standard-issue shotgun is the Pump Shotgun
  • The telephone number for LCPD recruitment is 555-RECRUIT (555-732-7848). It can be dialled, but there will be no answer.
  • A pistol can be seen in police officers' holsters. These are part of the character model and so will stay in the holster even when the officer has drawn their pistol.
  • According to the GTA Chinatown Wars manual, the LCPD runs a "Guns For Ca$h" amnesty program, sponsored by Ammu-Nation.
  • The Star Junction/Triangle substation resembles the US military recruitment station that exists in the real Times Square. Coincidentally, in 2008 - the year GTA IV is set - the station was the site of a bombing incident.[1]

See also

Gallery