Law Enforcement Standard Operating Procedure

This SOP establishes the minimum statewide standard for law-enforcement roleplay. Agencies may publish more specific procedures that do not conflict with server rules, the Penal Code, court orders, or this baseline.

1. Mission and conduct

Law-enforcement personnel shall protect life, preserve peace, enforce law impartially, respect lawful rights, and create fair roleplay. Members shall act professionally, identify themselves when practical, and avoid conduct that needlessly escalates a scene.

Members shall not use government access, confidential information, equipment, or authority for personal advantage, retaliation, metagaming, or out-of-character disputes.

2. Beginning duty

Before entering service, a member should:

• use an authorized character, callsign, rank, uniform, and vehicle;
• verify radio and CAD access;
• inspect issued equipment;
• review active warrants, BOLOs, closures, and special directives;
• advise dispatch of status and assignment; and
• ensure recording systems are enabled when required by server policy.

Unavailable or malfunctioning equipment should be reported. A technical failure does not authorize fabricating evidence.

3. Dispatch and call response

Units shall acknowledge assignments, use the designated response level, and update status at meaningful stages. Emergency driving requires due regard for other players and does not excuse reckless conduct.

The first arriving unit should address immediate threats, request needed resources, preserve evidence, and establish a basic command structure. A supervisor should be requested for major force, barricades, pursuits, mass-casualty incidents, officer misconduct allegations, or scenes involving significant interagency conflict.

4. Public contacts

4.1 Consensual contact

An officer may approach and ask questions without detention when a reasonable person would understand they may decline and leave. Do not imply compulsory authority when no detention exists.

4.2 Investigative detention

A temporary detention requires specific, articulable facts reasonably connecting a person to suspected criminal activity. The scope and duration must remain related to confirming or dispelling that suspicion.

4.3 Frisk

A frisk is a limited search for weapons based on a reasonable belief that the detained person is armed and presently dangerous. It is not a general evidence search.

4.4 Arrest

An arrest requires probable cause, a valid warrant, or another recognized authority. Inform the person of the reason when practical, use only necessary restraint, search according to policy, and arrange prompt transport or release.

5. Traffic enforcement

Traffic stops should be based on an observed violation, reasonable suspicion, a valid checkpoint, a warrant, or another lawful purpose. Notify dispatch when practical and choose a safe stopping position.

The officer should explain the reason for the stop, request documents reasonably related to it, address safety concerns, and complete the stop without unnecessary delay. Searches, canine deployments, vehicle impounds, and unrelated investigations require their own basis.

Use the traffic fines and license points guide for points and disposition.

6. Searches and warrants

6.1 Consent

Consent must be voluntary and given by a person with actual or reasonably apparent authority. Record the scope. A person may limit or withdraw consent before the search is complete.

6.2 Search incident to arrest

Search an arrested person and the area authorized by policy for weapons, escape tools, evidence, identification, and property inventory. Vehicle and premises searches require a separate recognized basis.

6.3 Exigent circumstances

Warrantless entry may be used when reasonably necessary to address an imminent threat to life, active violence, hot pursuit, fire, or immediate destruction of critical evidence. The response must remain tied to the emergency.

6.4 Warrants

A warrant application must identify the place, person, records, or property sought and the facts establishing probable cause. Material omissions or knowingly false statements are prohibited. Execute within the authorized scope and return an inventory or result to the court when required.

7. Use of force

Force must be objectively reasonable, necessary for a lawful purpose, and proportionate to the threat or resistance known at the time. De-escalation should be used when reasonably safe and effective.

7.1 General principles

• Presence and clear communication are preferred when sufficient.
• Force shall stop when resistance or threat ends.
• Punitive force is prohibited.
• Medical aid shall be requested after injury, significant force, or reported distress.
• Restraint shall be monitored and adjusted when safe.
• Every member remains responsible for unreasonable force and for intervening when realistically able.

7.2 Deadly force

Deadly force is authorized only when reasonably necessary to address an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. It is not authorized solely to prevent escape, protect property, or stop a vehicle unless the vehicle presents an imminent deadly threat and force is otherwise reasonable.

7.3 Reporting and review

Report firearm discharge, significant injury, less-lethal deployment, neck restraint, vehicle intervention, or other reportable force before ending duty. Preserve recordings and identify witnesses. A supervisor shall arrange medical care, scene management, evidence collection, involved-member separation where appropriate, and administrative notification.

8. Vehicle pursuits

A pursuit may begin when the need for immediate apprehension outweighs the danger created by the pursuit. Continuation requires ongoing reassessment of offense seriousness, traffic, weather, location, speed, identification, available units, and alternatives.

The primary unit handles driving and updates; a secondary assists with radio traffic. Supervisors shall monitor and may modify or terminate the pursuit. Units shall discontinue when ordered or when risk becomes disproportionate. Termination is a tactical decision, not a concession of authority.

Roadblocks, tire-deflation devices, vehicle contact, and aerial resources require training and policy authority. Do not use a vehicle intervention merely because a pursuit is inconvenient.

9. High-risk and critical incidents

For barricades, hostages, active violence, suspected explosives, or mass-casualty events:

1. address immediate life threats;
2. establish command and a safe perimeter;
3. request appropriate specialized resources;
4. designate staging, evacuation, and medical access;
5. control radio traffic;
6. preserve negotiation and surrender opportunities; and
7. maintain an incident log.

No member should claim specialized capabilities not supported by the server or department.

10. Investigations and interviews

Investigators shall separate observations from conclusions, pursue reasonable exculpatory information, and avoid coercive or fabricated evidence. Custodial questioning must follow the server’s rights-warning and counsel procedures. A request for counsel shall be honored according to policy.

Juvenile, vulnerable, intoxicated, injured, or language-limited persons require appropriate safeguards. Sensitive scenes must follow consent and prohibited-roleplay rules.

11. Evidence and property

Record who found an item, exact location, condition, packaging, identifying information, and every transfer. Use the authorized property system. Contraband, firearms, currency, digital records, vehicles, and biological or hazardous evidence require the applicable handling procedure.

Officers shall not alter, duplicate, display, or retain evidence for personal use. Digital evidence may be collected only within lawful process and server capability; never request real account credentials or personal-device access.

12. Arrest, transport, and booking

Before transport:

• confirm identity and supported charges;
• conduct the authorized search;
• inventory property;
• assess medical or behavioral needs;
• apply restraints reasonably; and
• check the transport vehicle.

At booking, transfer the person, property, evidence, charging narrative, and safety information. Medical clearance takes priority when reasonably indicated. Officers shall not negotiate punishment in exchange for waiving medical care or legal process.

13. Reports

Reports shall be timely, factual, and complete. Include:

• date, time, location, assignment, and involved persons;
• reason for initial contact;
• chronological observations and actions;
• probable cause for each charge;
• searches, seizures, force, restraints, and warnings;
• evidence and chain of custody;
• injuries and medical response;
• witness and recording information; and
• final disposition.

Do not copy another member’s narrative as personal observation. Corrections should be made transparently through a supplement or approved amendment.

14. Supervision and accountability

Supervisors shall provide scene direction, review significant reports, correct unsafe practice, and refer misconduct through the proper process. Complaints must be documented and must not be discouraged or retaliated against.

Out-of-character rule concerns belong in support channels. In-character policy violations may support training, counseling, discipline, or investigation but are not criminal unless the Penal Code’s elements are independently met.

15. Off-duty and interagency conduct

Off-duty members have no special exemption from law or server rules. Police action while off duty should be limited to immediate necessity, followed by notification to an on-duty agency.

On multiagency scenes, the agency with primary jurisdiction or incident responsibility should lead unless command is transferred. Disagreements shall be resolved away from the public scene through supervisors whenever possible.