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The Police Department & You


Big_Smokes

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Hello everyone. We filed a major internal announcement yesterday which also includes some OOC bits and pieces taken from this thread. I'm posting it here so you guys can all read what we've been up to so far! 

 

(Links and formatting were removed due to the differences in our forums' functionalities)
    

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POLICE MEMORANDUM 18
    VESPUCCI HQ & FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS

 


    To all personnel,

Thank you all for bearing with us over the past two months. Chief Lagorio, myself and the rest of the staff and command teams have been working tirelessly in the background in order to improve the department as a whole. As some of you may have noticed, we have stated several times a planned expansion that we never elaborated upon. Your patience is about to be rewarded. Without further adieu, I would like to present to you our newest real estate addition: The Vespucci Headquarters.


gta-world-camera-2019-11-16-16-34-2.png?width=1202&height=677
(Picture of the station's exterior)

 

The lobby was finished yesterday. Our developers are now looking to start designing and furnishing the upper and lower levels, which will house the HQ elements of all bureaus. Our intention is to finish this process before the end of 2019 / early 2020, after which the formal transition away from Mission Row Station will begin. Our intention is to fully place Mission Row Station and any other stations under control of the captains assigned to Operations Bureau.

 

Assignment of Deputy Chiefs Benevides and Romano
Before moving on to the more general announcements, I would like to recap on the decision made to assign Chiefs Benevides and Romano. Chief Benevides was picked for her experience with administrative investigating, management of investigative resources and intent to improve the Professional Standards Bureau. With her appointment comes a mandate to improve upon the existing entities within the Professional Standards Bureau, with the emphasis on modernizing said entities. Chief Romano, who most of you will know of, has had a long and decorated career in the department so far. She has come up from the very bottom of the Operations Bureau and has so far played an absolute crucial role in it's improvement in the long run. We have faith in her ability to keep improving Operations Bureau, and wish luck to her and her new appointed command personnel.

 

Shorthand Call Signs
It has been three weeks now since our transition to the new shorthand call sign system. As was promised, we intend to start gathering feedback now from all employees. This feedback will be used in the long run to further improve the system, but also as the basis on which we decide to keep this system or revert back to what we used to have. As it stands, so far it seems that most employees have acclimatized to the new system and see it in a positive light. However, we feel that the boots on the ground have the most relevant experience with both systems and are therefore looking forward to reading how you have experienced it so far. You can find the feedback topic here or you may private message any feedback you do not wish to post in public to myself.

 

Improving Departmental Recruitment and Retention
Over the past few months the teams under Captain Wilson, Sergeant Ortega and Lieutenant Parker, Recruitment and Academy and the Field Training Program respectively, have been working tirelessly on improving and streamlining the departmental recruitment and training process for new Law Enforcement Officers. As most of you who are Field Training Officers or above will know, the appointment of new officers was sometimes sporadic at best which led to a lot of intervals where there were no new officers available to train. To this extent, there have been changes made in both the Recruitment and Academy's recruitment schedule as well as the Field Training Program's inner workings to improve synergy between those areas- ensuring that there will always be new officers available for Field Training Officers to work on.

 

The Detective Bureau and it's progress so far
One of the Bureaus most heavily impacted by the recent changes has been the Detective Bureau. Under Captain Fletcher's leadership, it has undergone a massive change which saw the merging of all divisions into one: The Area Detectives Division. Thanks to Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant Escourt, and the countless experienced Detective II's in their area, the Detective Bureau has undergone a massive revamp process which has lead to increased activity, quality of life and quality of work across the board. So far, it has been a humbling experience to observe all the hard working members of the Detective Bureau who have been working around the clock to improve the Bureau.

Alongside the bureau's change, the Detective Training Program has undergone the same re-development process. Some of the major changes include the training process, the fact that Detective I is no longer a probationary rank but instead the first baseline detective rank and a major improvement in the quality of education and training we provide to prospective detectives.

 

((Out of Character Improvements and Changes))
As you can read above, there have been a lot of changes from an IC perspective which shed a positive light on everyone that has worked to improve the faction so far. From an out of character perspective however, it is unfortunate that I cannot be equally positive - not because people have not been trying, but because we as a command team feel that we have to this point not done everything we could to improve our faction's image from an out of character stand point. Yes, we have done a lot, but there is always that one extra step we can take- which is what we have decided to start doing now.

I presume that most of you will have read or know of the GTA World forum thread ''Police Department & You''. Link for reference. As you can see, some players paint a decidedly negative picture of the faction - which is quite frankly disheartening, because none of us, from Police Officer I to Chief of Police, want to give people negative experiences when roleplaying with us, from an OOC perspective. Trust in this, however: I know that you put in the effort, I know that you try your best and I know those same challenges you face on a daily basis, because I face them too. Some people simply get upset because they've ''lost'' a situation while others have some very good points which is why we have been working on dealing with the issues brought up for the past two months now. I want to thank all of you who got involved in this thread for the amazing OOC attitude you've shown when engaging other players. It is and will always remain my intent to break the taboo of discussing the LSPD: It damn well should not be, because all of you put in the effort and work to deserve to be recognized equally part of the community as everyone else. But we will not be able to do that until we genuinely change people's minds and make them see us for what we are.

 

((Where we are today))
Enough about that, however. The important part is this: What are we actually doing about these concerns and our image in general? First and foremost, we have decided to do the one thing we exclusively as a command team can do. We have started talking to the various criminal factions and leaders around the server, not simply to take their complaints, but also just to have a running dialogue with them and explain them our side of every story so that they understand we too are people that follow a certain set of rules, and that it isn't always as clear cut as it may seem to be. Furthermore for example, several detectives have started working with illegal faction leaders to improve both ends- their roleplay and ours.

Beyond this, the enforcement and diligent investigation of OOC complaints is also a part of our jobs. Although we have started dealing with these more proactively, rest assured: This is not just with the intent to punish. My goal as a faction leader, and in turn, the vision that the LSPD command team has will always remain based around teaching and not punishing when viable. However, we have to come together as a group, from Police Officer I to Chief of Police, and understand that to protect our faction's image, we do need to be seen actually improving. To this respect, Seech (Deputy Chief Benevides) has been working on an OOC complaints system which will be launched this week and will be working on revamping the OOC disciplinary system we have in place. We feel that an exact mirror of our IC punishment system does not work as well as we would want it to, and it is something we will be improving as time goes on.

To help out with further developing the faction as a whole, this week topics will created for all relevant career groups: Patrol Officers, Detectives, Sergeants and Command Officers, with the topic of roleplay in mind and how they experience it and want to improve it.

 

((Roleplay Screenshots))
Last but not least, Roozles (Assistant Chief Lagorio) has created a screenshots guide which you can find here. Although we will not be implementing any type of OOC rule which will force you to post roleplay screenshots, I do want to say this: Many of you have brought up the fact you want to help out the faction you work so hard on every single day and make sure that people see it in a more positive light. One way to do this is by simply giving the concept of roleplay screenshots a chance. I don't expect the world from you, but if you truly want to help the faction where it needs you most, it is showcasing to the public at a wide scale what we do best: Roleplay Law Enforcement Officers.

 

For the future
But this is not all. As a matter of fact, this does not even encompass all the goals we have for the end of 2019. There are many other things which are currently on our to do lists which I have not touched upon so far. This includes but is not limited to: A massive overhaul of the LSPD Manual, improving the knowledge of patrol officers by extending the curriculum both in the Field Training Program and long past it, planning our second patrol station and bringing more potent and vital civilian roles to the department.

Thank you all for your countless messages with feedback, new ideas and wishes of good luck over the past two months. The very passion you bring to your jobs, not just on the streets but also internally, is a testament to your dedication and love for the job. Feel free to post your thoughts and feelings on this memorandum, and as always, thank you for your service.

 

     Sincerely,
        Chief Of Police Charles Hughes

 

 

Edited by Big_Smokes
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  • 2 weeks later...

Unsure if the discussion about roleplaying fear was concluded as it's a lot of posts to go through, so my apologies if it was. I agree with what's been said about it being a "two way street". While officers shouldn't roam known gang neighborhoods as if they're patrolling in the Vinewood Hills, gang members should not go out of their way to "make" officers fear their territory by stretching the bounds of realism. Los Angeles does not have 'no go' zones, it is not Juarez or Tijuana. Officers don't drive down dark alleyways or into the middle of housing project parking lots if they have no reason to but they also don't avoid public streets. Shooting at or near a police officer or even brandishing a weapon purely because they're in your neighborhood is a really easy way to catch a few decades on a state yard or risk being killed.

 

Police officers should be cautious of suspected gang members, who are known to carry weapons and are often felons, but gang members should also remember that cop-killing is one of the fastest ways to a death penalty sentence.

 

To qualify, this is all opinion and it's coming from a person with a massive majority in illegal roleplay experience, not an LEO roleplayer.

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1 hour ago, Large Hazard said:

Unsure if the discussion about roleplaying fear was concluded as it's a lot of posts to go through, so my apologies if it was. I agree with what's been said about it being a "two way street". While officers shouldn't roam known gang neighborhoods as if they're patrolling in the Vinewood Hills, gang members should not go out of their way to "make" officers fear their territory by stretching the bounds of realism. Los Angeles does not have 'no go' zones, it is not Juarez or Tijuana. Officers don't drive down dark alleyways or into the middle of housing project parking lots if they have no reason to but they also don't avoid public streets. Shooting at or near a police officer or even brandishing a weapon purely because they're in your neighborhood is a really easy way to catch a few decades on a state yard or risk being killed.

  

Police officers should be cautious of suspected gang members, who are known to carry weapons and are often felons, but gang members should also remember that cop-killing is one of the fastest ways to a death penalty sentence.

  

To qualify, this is all opinion and it's coming from a person with a massive majority in illegal roleplay experience, not an LEO roleplayer.

 

I'm pretty sure that's usually down to certain players who probably don't have the right mindset when it comes to roleplaying a LEO and are in it for the thrills of a pursuit or a shootout, however regulating these sort of things I imagine can be difficult considering the size of the faction and the amount of players in it, your best bet if you encounter those cases is to report them to PLM.

 

Obviously that goes both ways though.

Edited by Sergi
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On 11/28/2019 at 8:50 AM, Large Hazard said:

Unsure if the discussion about roleplaying fear was concluded as it's a lot of posts to go through, so my apologies if it was. I agree with what's been said about it being a "two way street". While officers shouldn't roam known gang neighborhoods as if they're patrolling in the Vinewood Hills, gang members should not go out of their way to "make" officers fear their territory by stretching the bounds of realism. Los Angeles does not have 'no go' zones, it is not Juarez or Tijuana. Officers don't drive down dark alleyways or into the middle of housing project parking lots if they have no reason to but they also don't avoid public streets. Shooting at or near a police officer or even brandishing a weapon purely because they're in your neighborhood is a really easy way to catch a few decades on a state yard or risk being killed.

 

Police officers should be cautious of suspected gang members, who are known to carry weapons and are often felons, but gang members should also remember that cop-killing is one of the fastest ways to a death penalty sentence.

 

To qualify, this is all opinion and it's coming from a person with a massive majority in illegal roleplay experience, not an LEO roleplayer.

 

I don't know whether it has or hasn't, but our take on it in general is very simple; we expect people to roleplay realistic fear based on the IC state of the area. To that respect generally what you said is correct, albeit there are some nuances to it in relation to people with specific assignments/expertise in areas relevant to dealing with gangs.

 

I have to say I haven't commented on this particular aspect of the topic a lot lately because we really said our piece and I didn't believe there was more to add discussion wise. What I can however say is how it has been going from our perspective keeping in mind the feedback we took from this thread. I can say that over the course of the past few weeks while working with illegal faction members that forwarded complaints, we have investigated all of them OOC with some of them resulting in action taken against the faction member (which I am not going to go into detail about, I don't think that's necessary) while others ended in us making an OOC agreement on what the person should be doing going forward including the offended/effected party.

 

Although it is always a shitty thing to do, having to give people warnings, punishment or anything like that on an OOC basis, we have been more proactive at it for a few months now and I can say that from my point of view and that of the reporting parties, it has bore fruit. Follow through is important. This topic is not just about ideals, wants and wishes, but also about seeing it through and reporting the effects of it to you guys. So here you go.

Edited by Big_Smokes
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People tend to start a gang in a street with no gang history what-so-ever and suddenly expect to be recognized as the most dangerous street gang in the world where officers shiver in fear. I'd argue that if you want your gang to have a certain reputation with police you should actually earn that reputation through roleplay, and accept the subsequent consequences of having such a status. 

 

On another note, how do the gun racks work? 

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I had an interesting situation with an off-duty female Law enforcment officer, in-which she had responded to one of my character's advertisements for a "High-paying job in the entertainment industry". They had agreed to meet outside of her apartment, undergoing small talk, before undergoing a massive one-hour interview, revealing that my character intended to prostitute her within the city. In the end, she said "You need to stop doing this kind of business kid... 'cause you're doing it wrong". She then revealed her L.S.P.D. badge, causing my character, who is a seventeen year-old lower-ranking member of a gang, to undergo a panic attack. In the end, she stated "I just want to help you... You won't be reported or arrested... but, I want to give you this chance for assistance." etc... I'm simply summing up this two-hour situation in a small paragraph.

My point is... Law enforcement officers should invest some time in "Community Policing" with outreach programs that exceed beyond the basic "He did a crime, arrest him". This incident was a life-changing situation for my character, in the context of undergoing trauma for disclosing his organization's operations to a Law enforcement officer, which could result in death.

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Just now, DLimit said:

 

While I’m glad the event was good for your character I have major concerns about this. A police officer should NOT be allowing prostitution rings or in this case, let someone who is actively attempting to create one “off with a warning”. This isn’t a case of little billy vandalizing the local public restroom, this is as you stated a low ranking gang member attempting to establish a prostitution ring. That’s a serious crime with incredibly horrendous effects on the people who work in them. 

 

Im all for community policing, I’m all for cops letting people (specifically teens) off with a warning. But this is not community policing, this is just incredibly bad RP. 

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22 minutes ago, Henning said:

While I’m glad the event was good for your character I have major concerns about this. A police officer should NOT be allowing prostitution rings or in this case, let someone who is actively attempting to create one “off with a warning”. This isn’t a case of little billy vandalizing the local public restroom, this is as you stated a low ranking gang member attempting to establish a prostitution ring. That’s a serious crime with incredibly horrendous effects on the people who work in them. 

 

Im all for community policing, I’m all for cops letting people (specifically teens) off with a warning. But this is not community policing, this is just incredibly bad RP. 

I wouldn't suggest that it was bad R.P.... But, a human being R.P.ing as an overly sympathetic Law enforcement officer being well aware that a lower-ranking member is being exploited to conduct their bidding. I OOCly or ICly am unaware as to whether the person had allowed my character to be "Free to Go" in order to potentially conduct an even larger investigation on the situation.

 

I.E. Why arrest one person when you can potentially send another person to follow him and spy on the entire operation, as a whole? Clearly, arresting this person would lead to him remaining silent. However, letting him go to potentially investigate the situation on a grander scale? That's amazing roleplay as both a civilian and and officer.

I.E. "Well, this male is only a lower-ranking member of an even larger operation. He'll be free to go. Just take notes on who he hangs with, and gather intelligence on them."

Hypothetically, if my character were to be arrested for such an offense, then his own associates would probably remove him from the ring to prevent the L.S.P.D. from gathering more intel on them.

On a side note. This person was off-duty, functioning as a regular citizen, at the time. It's a possibility that she separates her work life from her personal life, which is why she took this to a personal level.

Edit: Even if neither of those cases listed above were true... She could've even been a lower-ranking officer with zero experience on these type of situations, allowing the incident to slide due to her inability to comprehend the seriousness of the offense.

It's not just "Bad RP"... If anything, it's good R.P., as numerous factors might've lead to that decision. It's an I.C. issue, which could be based on any of the scenarios listed above, or just simply based on poor "police training"... 

Edited by DLimit
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Here from: 

 

 

Hey. I've been playing on the server for sometime now, and a thing I've noticed and wanted to provide constructive criticism on the roleplay I've encountered with the LSPD. Every time I've ran into the LSPD, I've noticed that they either a. Don't understand American culture or lingo very well or b. RP a super-mega-robo-cop or c. their RP and grammar are very sub-par. 

 

For reason a. Simply put, I've seen a lot of police officers saying stuff that we normally don't say in America such as: Mate, and Oi. Now it's one thing if you are RPing your character being from somewhere they do typically say that  (I would not assume this is the case for most) but most police I see say "mate, oi" - or act like how they would in real life. They forget they're role playing a character. I suggest that for anybody that is foreign and doesn't really understand how we speak in America, go watch vlogs or something similar of people's daily life in LA or interviews. 

 

B. I've had a few run ins with other police where it's like they don't even want to interact with the civilians. Every time you approach a cop they're very hostile. You have to remember when you're roleplaying a LEO that you're not in the mafia. 

 

C. The worst part of the whole thing is the grammar and RP standards. I think legal roleplay in general should have a high standard of who gets in. A lot of people I've seen in LSPD especially have very very poor grammar. For example, I've seen people not use correct punctuation and just do silly /me's. I even seen someone do:

 

"Johnny_Cop says: ..." 

 

What is "..."  ? 

 

 

I asked them and they said that is how they RP silence. This is simply incorrect. There are other ways to RP being silent, or just quiet but putting three periods is not one.

 

I don't know, just some constructive criticism, in my opinion on something that I think needs to be addressed. Thanks.

 

b14d70f88e2028351c38fab6a07e5c51.png

 

I had more SS's of examples but I lost like 5 of them, not to single these two out! They're not the only ones, it's just something that is actually happening is all. 

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