Consider this guide as an addition to @Chrissy's "Police Guidelines" which was published the 25th of January 2015: https://perpheads.com/threads/police-guidlines.5391/#post-46954 - This guide is specifically about the /panic alert.
The /panic feature was added to the server in matter to allow government employees to quickly contact LEOs in case of an urgent emergency without having to give an explanation. This feature saves multiple lives at a daily basis. However, some people have misunderstood/misinterpreted the purpose of the panic alert.
This is not a complete guide but rather a guideline on how to correctly use the /panic alert.
There are many options when it comes to communicating with fellow government employees. You can either use /radio (text radio), B (key) (voice radio) or phone. But when a situation occurs in which a citizen's or your own life is at urgent risk you can always take advantage of the /panic alert.
How to use it? It's easy:
Simply type the following text in the chat and press 'Enter': /panic
When /panic has been written in chat it will look like this:
Next step is press 'Enter'.
The following message can be seen by any government employee on duty.
(The red text stands out and it can easily be spotted) - Therefore it's NOT preferable to spam /panic because it will most likely be seen the first time. Help doesn't arrive faster because you spam it.
The /panic states the name of the government employee as well as the exact [10-20] Location so that LEOs can quickly respond.
(keep in mind that /panic is only available for government employees):
Some people prefer to keep the /panic as a bind on a specific key on their keyboard. However, I'm not a big fan of this. It often happens that some people accidentally press the key which directs multiple LEO units to their [10-20] Location which occupies many resources within Paralake Police Department. Also keep in mind that it's possibly considered slightly unrealistic to be able to locate your government radio on your utility belt and press the panic button within less than a second. If a life threatening situation unfolds in real life, you would probably fumble around with the radio for a couple of seconds due to the panic and chaos. (this is debatable). Please don't abuse the /panic to get LEOs attention if the situation isn't urgent/life threatening.
/panic alerts should always be taken seriously. A /panic is considered a priority call-out and any nearby LEOs (or LEOs in general) are expected to track down the person in need of help (life threatening condition/situation).
Many people tend to accidentally/wrongfully use /panic. This is not an accusation, it's a fact. Regardless of the circumstances a /panic should always be taken seriously. A LEO should therefore always investigate a /panic regardless of the following radio transmission such as: "Disregard, code 4 - the panic alert was an accident. etc." - The government employee could be threatened to say the aforementioned radio transmission(s) by armed/dangerous citizens/criminals.
The following video clearly shows why /panic alerts should always be taken seriously by LEOs:
(short explanation: I was doing a little PassiveRP session as police officer and I spoke to one of the NPCs. I went to my vehicle and got a blanket for the lady who stood outside in the rain. Suddenly a /panic alert comes in over the radio and I quickly left the lady after I gave her the blanket. I decided to ignore the firefighter's radio transmissions:
When I arrived at the scene I found out that the firefighter was in danger despite his "disregard" radio transmissions. The presence of citizens with offensive weapons and even firearms showed the potentially life threatening aspects of the situation and action was taken by me and fellow LEOs):
Additional information:
It's considered unrealistic and therefore a violation of the server rules to use the /panic alert if you're being held at direct gunpoint or in case you're being detained:
- 6.5 Illegal Detainment- While being detained by another player(s), players may not contact other players, unless they are specifically told to do so. (This also includes server rule 3.2: 3.2 Third Party Communication Applications- Any and all forms of communication about any topic which affects In-Character decisions must be conducted through In-Character methods; for example, through the use of in-game voice chat. The use of communication applications outside of this game is strictly forbidden; for example, the use of Steam chat, TeamSpeak, Skype, telephones, etc).
- 3.4 Putting your Life at Risk - Players must at all times act realistically, meaning that any actions taken that may put a player’s In-Character life, freedom from imprisonment and/or general wellbeing at risk must be done so in a realistic fashion, for realistically good/beneficial reasons and in such a way that can be justified as reasonable. (Don't risk your life in the attempt to press the /panic alert. However, rule 3.6 is overruled by 3.4 in these type of situations: 3.6 Stay Alive - Typically, players must, at all times, do everything in their power to prevent and/or avoid their own death.)
- 6.7 Being Tied-up- When a player(s) has been tied-up and/or gagged, in some form, by another player(s), the former player(s) can only become untied and/or ungagged with the direct assistance of another player(s) and/or a knife and/or machete - the ‘/me’ functionality must be used where appropriate. (When being tied up you're unable to take out your service pistol, phone, government radio (/panic button) etc. By attempting you might put your life at risk or even violate a server rule.
If you are planning to test your /panic button key-bind you could ask a supervisor (sergeant/lieutenant) to arrange a meeting in which it would be temporarily allowed to "test" it within a restricted/controlled area.
I hope this guide is useful/beneficial (let me know if you find any wrong information which is stated within this guide). I do apologize in advance if a similar guide has been made previously.
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