Patrol shouldn't simply be the "vanilla" division

[GP]

TLDR: Patrol needs some differentiation from RTU so people that want to stay in Patrol, stay in Patrol, while enhancing the way they role-play. This could even benefit traffic officers!

Disclaimer: I'm a Patrol sergeant. I've never applied for RTU nor TFU. I've never been command. I'm a senior dispatcher.

Patrol needs character​

I recently suggested a couple of Patrol-exclusive tools. This came after a forum topic "debating" Traffic or Patrol.

The main reason I posted this suggestion is because Patrol needs character. Right now, it's simply seen as the vanilla primary Division.

RTU is a undoubtedly a no-brainer, net-positive upgrade.

Who stays in Patrol?​

Right now, I think Patrol members can fall into two categories:

• Patrol Command and Patrol Trainers, which are very important positions that deal with foundational processes such as Officer (they recently worked on improving the test questions) or Taser applications (needed for RTU, TFU).
• Anyone not interested on doing the RTU application process,
  • anyone that failed it, or
  • anyone that doesn't meet the requirements.

Currently, out of the 25 sergeants, 88% are RTU. Only 3 are Patrol: @The HitMan, @Rick F. and me. (Corporals are usually more evenly distributed).

If you don't apply for Traffic, you're simply at a net disadvantage. The most common one I encounter daily is not being able to clamp vehicles.

Patrol specialization​

Why not work towards having another kind of person in Patrol?

By adding character and benefits for staying, Patrol could better cater to people wanting to specialize in general Patrol duties.

It makes sense to give (Patrol) some equipment to better deal with, well, general situations such as perimeters, crowd control, general crime investigations, etc.

Why not give stuff to everyone?​

Traffic officers also participate in most incidents. Not having the tools I'm proposing don't leave them at a disadvantage or make having a Patrol officer present a requirement.

These tools could be added for everyone, and it wouldn't be a bad decision by itself. But it's also a great opportunity to differentiate the primary Divisions (not create a divide). To give more character to Patrol, to help specialize it.

It's a decision for PD Senior Management.

Effects on RTU​

As a side effect, adding these benefits could help make Traffic more unique.

Having Patrol-exclusive tools could allow Traffic Officers to focus even more on their area of expertise. Why waste a Traffic unit to a regular incident, when they could be on stand-by to catch zooming car thieves (on the rise) or help avoid further collisions after a traffic accident?

Patrol officers having some vanity tools to improve how they deal with incidents would help remove reasons to assign RTOs to generic, non-traffic incidents, allowing them to focus on what they usually enjoy: traffic policing. As a dispatcher, it's not unusual to receive requests from RTOs to assign them to traffic incidents only (if possible).

The intention isn't to remove people from RTU or discourage them from joining. This said, maybe some RTU members could consider switching divisions in the future.

Patrol vs. Traffic standards​

I am aware Patrol officers don't have to follow an application process as rigorous as RTU's, and neither do we have a whole separate rule book to learn and follow. This is because RTU has further responsibilities that come with the powerful tools at their disposal. Bnje mentioned that "one of the benefits of Patrol is that there’s no actual obligations to be a member of it".

Remember that my suggestions are nice-to-have, vanity tools.
They won't change the playing field.

Closing thoughts​

Personally, I prefer role-playing as a generic officer, dealing with anything that comes up, usually patrolling a specific zone. I really enjoyed my time as a new Officer, and was reluctant to apply to the next rank. However, I do enjoy traffic policing!

For now, I'm staying in Patrol with the hope that some day it'll no longer simply be the vanilla primary division. It's an intentional handicap I've set on myself for role-play reasons.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts. Any RTU members that would consider coming back if the division started to get more specialized?

See also​

• Traffic or Patrol
• Give Patrol some love: nice-to-have features
• Road Traffic Unit Handbook

Edit: removed remark about TFU being able to clamp vehicles, formatting, minor stuff.

 

[Goonsberg]

Absolutely agree, I’m RTU and considering going for sergeant (when I cba to apply) but I saw no point in staying in patrol.

However, what would we change - do we restrict RTUs focus to traffic only (bad idea) or change up Patrols focus?

TFU sits as an in between, should it be more patrol?

I would love to know what people think would actually fix this as I don’t have any ideas

 

[GP]

Absolutely agree, I’m RTU and considering going for sergeant (when I cba to apply) but I saw no point in staying in patrol.

However, what would we change - do we restrict RTUs focus to traffic only (bad idea) or change up Patrols focus?

TFU sits as an in between, should it be more patrol?

I would love to know what people think would actually fix this as I don’t have any ideas

Restricting isn't fun for anyone involved!

I'm proposing adding some nice-to-have benefits for Patrol, but it won't prevent nor hinder RTU from doing Patrol duties (they're mostly visual, a Patrol officer isn't required) or vice-versa. This will specialize the division, while the focus will stay the same. Patrol will have better tools that will make focusing on their chosen division primary duties more enjoyable.

TFU is a secondary division like Dispatch, they're supporting the primary ones and accept from either of them. I think they're fine as they are

 

[Goonsberg]

Restricting isn't fun for anyone involved!

I'm proposing adding some nice-to-have benefits for Patrol, but it won't prevent nor hinder RTU from doing Patrol duties (they're mostly visual, a Patrol officer isn't required) or vice-versa. This will specialize the division, while the focus will stay the same. Patrol will have better tools that will make focusing on their chosen division primary duties more enjoyable.

TFU is a secondary division like Dispatch, they're supporting the primary ones and accept from either of them. I think they're fine as they are

Would be great to see, RTU does not need everything.

 

[alden]

Even as a RTU diehard I completely agree with you. I think Patrol should have something to make them unique and stick out, I like how you phrased that being in Patrol is a "net disadvantage" which is true, balancing Patrol and RTU out would be great for the department.

 

[Vollgas]

My objective, in the long run, is to stay in Patrol, even if I get to meet the requirements to join traffic or TFU, it's just more appealing to me on paper. However, given the current state and the perks it gets, it's true that TFU/Traffic are just, like you said, a pure net advantage; I'd get to do pretty much the same but with extra weaponry and engagement opportunities in TFU. I most sincerely hope that Patrol gets an upgrade or at least division-specific perks so the player base will want to stay more frequently.

 

[Goonsberg]

My objective, in the long run, is to stay in Patrol, even if I get to meet the requirements to join traffic or TFU, it's just more appealing to me on paper. However, given the current state and the perks it gets, it's true that TFU/Traffic are just, like you said, a pure net advantage; I'd get to do pretty much the same but with extra weaponry and engagement opportunities in TFU. I most sincerely hope that Patrol gets an upgrade or at least division-specific perks so the player base will want to stay more frequently.

Just FYI you can be TFU & Patrol as TFU is a subdivision.

For example I’m an RTU Corporal & Traffic trainer but also a TFO.

 

[Tilin]

We've kind of got the same system as PERP in my own country.. Traffic cops are just an upgrade to regular patrol officers, but get access to more equipment and new cars as well as primarily focus on traffic duties.

In terms of my country:

• Patrol officers generally patrol around with VW Transporters, Citroen Spacetourers or Škoda Octavias (Station Wagon/Caravan). This gives them a higher capacity when transporting suspects.
• Traffic officers generally patrol on highways or 90KM/H roads with: Škoda Octavia Superbs/Octavias (Sedan), BMW M550i(s), majority of them being unmarked.

I think Patrol would greately benefit from getting vans, which would actually not go at the speed of a snail... I also think this would greately compliment RTU nicely as we could work together to transport suspects, since we stay behind most of the time dealing with the aftermath of chases etc. or as a sergeant, where transporting a suspect is simply not able to be done with the Mercedes SL65.

Additionally, to reward Patrol for doing grunt work: Maybe let Patrol (Officers above SO+ for obvious reasons), be awarded for transporting suspects a small sum of money.

 

[tymon007]

Maybe there just is no reason and there shouldnt be. Going through an application will always give you advantages, so why people who pass a simple test should get something more included?

You meet requirements, you pass an application, which is not always very straightforward and requires you to learn some stuff and you get advantages. I dont see a reason why you should get more of anything in patrol.

The point is to develop, learn new stuff, have higher expectations, requirements and get satisfaction from it. In patrol you can just progress with your rank, and some people will stay as they dont need the additional equipment.

 

[Wescott]

I agree, not with RTU just doing traffic but everything else.

My main concern with adding more stuff to patrol is a lot of it would have to be hidden behind different ranks due to new officers getting added to patrol by default. It would be an incentive to climb the ranks, but then you'll find a vast separation between ranks, with a bulk rush for CPL and SGT creating an even bigger bottleneck for observation reports.

There is always a different scenario where you bring back the academy, and new officers get assigned by default for a monitoring period and then have to apply to either patrol or RTU. That way, you can have all the additional equipment and disregard the issues with new officers misusing it or not understanding how to use it.

Like with RTU, once you get RTO, you get all the equipment and vehicles minus the Mercedes, but a similar thing but for patrol. Somewhat easy applications for both where the main focus on acceptance is ORs and the application process turns more into a training and testing stage. So the officer ranks in those divisions would be RTO (Road Traffic Officer) and PO (Patrol Officer) instead of just officer.

Then patrol can have more fun things like new patrol cars, weapons and equipment, everyone is happier, and patrol has more control over the division.

 

[tymon007]

Additionally, to reward Patrol for doing grunt work: Maybe let Patrol (Officers above SO+ for obvious reasons), be awarded for transporting suspects a small sum of money.

There never was and never should be economical difference between divisions, unless you do administrative tasks on plpd.online which literally takes your time, but you decide to sacrifice it for the PD.

This would be just unfair, or traffic officers should be then rewarded for i.e. impounding cars to preserve the economical balance somehow.

People then might choose patrol just for economical reasons and i dont think that should ever be the case in the PD.

 

[Tilin]

There never was and never should be economical difference between divisions, unless you do administrative tasks on plpd.online which literally takes your time, but you decide to sacrifice it for the PD.

This would be just unfair, or traffic officers should be then rewarded for i.e. impounding cars to preserve the economical balance somehow.

People then might choose patrol just for economical reasons and i dont think that should ever be the case in the PD.

It wouldn't be a major economical difference, but I'm tired of having to threaten people with reprimands to pick up my suspects and take them to PD for me.

I'd be a great treat to those who listen.

 

[tymon007]

It wouldn't be a major economical difference, but I'm tired of having to threaten people with reprimands to pick up my suspects and take them to PD for me.

I'd be a great treat to those who listen.

This is understandable, however what you said is not a proper solution to a problem. Disobedient officers should recieve reprimands either way, and this kind of motivation does not change the fact they wouldnt have done it if there was no money reward. We should dive futher into this and solve the problem of their disobedience in general, before rewarding them for on-duty performance.

 

[Tilin]

This is understandable, however what you said is not a proper solution to a problem. Disobedient officers should recieve reprimands either way, and this kind of motivation does not change the fact they wouldnt have done it if there was no money reward. We should dive futher into this and solve the problem of their disobedience in general, before rewarding them for on-duty performance.

The issue is not disobedience, but completely disregarding their duties. And that is hard to punish, since that would require me to prove that each officer received my message, wasn't busy and so on and so forth.

Besides, anyone who's taken any psychology class knows that positive reinforcement works much better than punishments.

 

[tymon007]

The issue is not disobedience, but completely disregarding their duties. And that is hard to punish, since that would require me to prove that each officer received my message, wasn't busy and so on and so forth.

Besides, anyone who's taken any psychology class knows that positive reinforcement works much better than punishments.

Again agreed to what you said, but if we roleplay police force, this psychology just seems invalid. All officers should perform their duties to the fullest without any additional reward for this. They are getting paid, they get free firearms, bandages etc, so they are expected to fulfill their job.

What I usually do is i ask a single unit if they recieve me, and request them to pick the prisoner up. The "Diffusion of responsibility" phenomenon will not occur, as you specifically asked 1-2 people, and you will get theese officers to pick up the suspect. If they fail, you have grounds to issue a reprimand for disobedience.

 

[Jimmy]

Patrol has the Transit van, however it is barely used as it struggles to go above 50. With a decent speed boost it might get used a little more frequently.

 

[The HitMan]

The problem with adding new stuff is that it requires time and effort. We all do the exact same role regardless of what division you are in, Whether it's traffic stops, chases, shootouts and other stuff. Traffic gets a clamp, speed camera and the merc of which make Zero difference for the patrol to use or TFU.

 

[Hayden]

I understand your frustrations about Patrol being seen as the default division without much incentive to stay has been an issue for years and even before I became Chief of Department. One idea that has been thrown about many times is to make RTU a secondary division like TFU where you would be required to gear up and by default would be in standard patrol gear. This would mean everyone is in Patrol but can specialise in extra roles that they can only gear up in.


I am also open to adding new items for Patrol, but this takes time as I have to discuss with the developers about adding it. We definitely need to sit down and maybe do a public session where we can discuss and answer questions about this topic. I do want to improve Patrol, but it’s about approaching it the correct way.

 

[Aquaa]

Unfortunately like @Hayden has said, it's always been the vanilla division and I've inherited a few ideas that Mini left behind however a majority of these are extremely prone to pissing off anyone playing crim.

Adding on to what Hayden has said, I've met with @sidd and @Sean to discuss the idea of traffic becoming a secondary division and just to publicly state, I absolutely believe that this change should be made. There's no reason for traffic to be a primary division when it is a specialization within the PD, same thing as TFU. Most, if not all officers have speed cameras irl afaik and on the server, patrol officers are forced to bumper pace someone to catch them speeding.

I am always open to ideas to make patrol more interesting, and I've just brought an old idea back up which will hopefully be implemented and add some fresh changes to the division. Feel free to PM me with any ideas you may have for the division, campaigns, etc.

 

[Tilin]

Unfortunately like @Hayden as said, it's always been the vanilla division and I've inherited a few ideas that Mini left behind however a majority of these are extremely prone to pissing off anyone playing crim.

Adding on to what Hayden has said, I've met with @sidd and @Sean to discuss the idea of traffic becoming a secondary division and just to publicly state, I absolutely believe that this change should be made. There's no reason for traffic to be a primary division when it is a specialization within the PD, same thing as TFU. Most, if not all officers have speed cameras irl afaik and on the server, patrol officers are forced to bumper pace someone to catch them speeding.

I am always open to ideas to make patrol more interesting, and I've just brought an old idea back up which will hopefully be implemented and add some fresh changes to the division. Feel free to PM me with any ideas you may have for the division, campaigns, etc.

The speed cameras are absolutely useless with the policies in place and the map and how it lacks any breakdown zones on the highway where you most need them to set these up. So there's no real added benefit or loss by adding them to Patrol.

But personally, I think the vehicles should be what separates the units, not the equipment (aside from the hi-vis vest). Give patrol vans that can reach 80mph and that would already be a big upgrade.