Calls, favors, protests and mob war This is the Police Guide
Last update: 14 September 2016
You will encounter calls related to various crimes - from common thefts and public disorder, through assaults, fights and rapes, to shoot-outs and suicide attempts. The key to victory is to recognize whether the threat is real and determining how dangerous it is.
Calls on the map have limited reaction time. It is counted in seconds representing until when you can react. If you there is large amount of time, it is a good idea to wait for other patrols to return to the base and send more men to the place. Frequently calls with very short reaction time (7-10 seconds) will appear. Always have at least one officer in the reserve.
Sometimes the policemen will ask you for additional instructions after arriving. When it happens, an additional window will appear and you will have a few options to choose from. Selecting the correct advice or order will have decisive impact on the positive outcome of the whole action. Sometimes your policemen will ask for backup. Also, you can abort the mission at this point, which will count as a fiasco. In that case there will wait for an additional patrol - it will increase the amount of time needed for solving the case and it will thus block valuable human resources. In those cases you should consider whether they really need additional hands to get the job done.
Crime call - How to deal with each one?
If you have proper knowledge you can determine how many and how trained officers should you send to various crime types. Sometimes however harmless situations will require larger number of officers because of various factors. If the situation is dangerous, you should send SWAT. If there are many criminals or suspects, then you should send prison wagon with the officers.
A task is completed successfully only if no one gets hurt and the criminals are caught. In that case the officers will receive professionalism points. Even a single red statistic will equal failure - penalty points and your relationship with the city getting worse. Remember that the worse thing is civilians dying, then policemen dying and criminal escaping at the end. Sometimes you will find some items like weapon or drugs. You can sell them to the mob (and then take all the profits or share with your crew) or simply take them to the station. There is no point in selling "fibus" or alcohol. When the officers ask you for instructions, options that you pick are often decisive. Sometimes, you can send out a good team, but give inappropriate instructions, which does not end well for you.
Officers can respond to any number of calls, they aren't getting tired from doing that. Their tire level depends only on how many days in a row are they working.
Such calls like theft, public disorder, vandalism, destruction of property, accidents, frauds, a suspicious individual etc. are ones of the easier assignments. They rarely change into serious situations. Sometimes however you will have to give advices to your men about what they must do. Notice how many suspects are there. Even if they are kids, it is better to send two officers than one (your men cannot multiply). In the second part of the game, especially starting with the serial killer hunt, many calls about a suspicious individual will be a false alarm.
You should treat fights, massive fights, assaults, rapes, robberies, protests, theft or attempted murder require a bit more serious approach. Usually you should send at least two officers. If it is a fight then there are at least two aggressive people. Make sure that you send officers with about 200 professionalism points or a combination like 300 + 100. Such patrol will have greater chance for success. In these cases patrols will also call for additional instructions. Remember that they can ask for reinforcements as well. If you have only one officer slot available during the call and from the description you know that there are more people present, then you can be sure that you will have to send a few more men and maybe a prison car.
The hardest tasks are gun robberies, hostage situations, bombings, trafficking, shootings, gun or drug trading, massacres and murders. Here you must send at least one best cop. It is good if he has a rank. SWAT will be very useful as well. However, if you send large number of high quality officers, they should manage even without the SWAT. Despite the best possible team, sometimes some of your men can die anyway - it depends on random factors and on missions themselves. Very frequently the patrol will ask for advices, usually two or three times. This can also greatly impact the outcome of the action. Despite it all, there are challenges where one officer will manage because you given him proper hints.
In case of advices you must remember about a few things. You must show some negotiations and observer skills. It is better to use option to point at someone and yell for him to surrender than to kill him immediately. Use the electroshock weapon or gas instead of risking your people. Be careful, don't run into the house in which there is a man with shotgun. When armed criminals start shooting at you, don't run in their direction - hide behind the police car instead. These are only some of the advices that will help you in selecting correct solution. Remember that there is more than one correct options that have different outcomes.
You must also remember that there are false calls. If the officers will ride to such call, their skills won't increase nor will they receive a professionalism penalty. However, they will lose valuable time on driving there and returning. You must carefully check information related to call. Some child tells that there is a monster in his house? It will be a harmless animal. A small child is telling that "they" are forbidding him from leaving the house? He was home-arrested by his parents and decided to call cops. Grandma is hearing suspicious voices from neighboring apartment? It's just loud television. Old man is reporting that some army is breaking on the ground floor? These were dogs scratching the wall in order to get inside. A woman noticed a mysterious man that fist the wanted poster and has a weapon? It's just an officer who went for coffee and looks similar to the wanted man. Some situations cannot be predicted. However, if the caller is telling about something incredible or it is a very old or very young person, then there is great chance that it is a false alarm. It's similar when the thing the person speaks about isn't very convincing. However, it is worth adding that various things can happen. Sending one officer won't hurt you, and it is better that nothing happens than if a criminal hurts someone.
Favors
Green calls on the map are favors for various citizens of the city. They differ from other calls in that completing them won't lead to any bad consequences - you can only profit from them. In majority of favors the task givers repay you with money, usually a few thousand dollars. It's different with the men you send there. The tasks can have various impact on your officers: They can resign from working for you because the task you gave them proved to be more profitable. They might also leave because they have enough of being treated like errand boys. They can return completely drunk because the task giver offered them drinks. They can go on karate training and return well trained or they can come back rested after playing arcade games. In most of these calls sent officers will become unavailable till the next day. These simple favors are a good way for earning money. During them you also won't lose reputation in city hall, police or mafia. No one will rat about you nor will anyone start an investigation.
Protests
Black markers on the map. You will face these events usually once per one or two weeks. They always require 4 officers, SWAT team and, if you have, a prison van. Luckily, skills aren't important in these cases. Whether you will listen to the mayor is important for your reputation in the city hall. In these events you can listen to the mayor and use force or object and avoid confrontation with peaceful protesters. You will be also able to buy alibi, for example evidence that criminals forced you to aggressive reaction and you had no choice. After the event everyone returns to the station but no one gains experience. If you decided to use force, then an investigation against you will start. You will be able to use the fabricated evidence or blame mayor and his administration. What you choose will impact your reputation in the city hall. Also, you can decide not to react, which will be morally proper, although this will require you to break a sweat to gain favor with authorities.
Mob war
At some point, more specifically during day 12, the mob war will start. Before it happens, you will decide which side are you on. If you select Sand (light orange), you will only see tasks from him. If you select Varg's mob (blue), you will be able to complete tasks for both sides. It is important because if Sand sees that he isn't winning (he won't be leading for three days), he can focus his anger on you. The war will end on day 29.
Calls for the mafia bosses for both sides are usually easy, for 1-3 officers. Your men won't spend much time on them and they will return quickly. Their skills aren't important. However, you will block them for other, more important tasks. There will be many of these calls and the whole war will take two weeks. Don't worry if you miss some, there will be others in their place. At the end of the day a large statistic showing current situation in the war will appear. It is a good idea to complete assignments from both of the sides and maintain the advantage of 1 assignment from the Sands. Towards the end of day 26, complete all the assignments from the Vargas, so that they can choose. If Sand wins, nothing important changes. If Varga wins, the mafia will change thier HQ to the riverside villa. Either way, the war ends on day 28.