Traffic stops

A traffic stop from the first sign of trouble to the driver driving off: spotting a violator, pulling them over, talking to them, running them, searching, testing, and ending it with a ticket, a warning or the cuffs.

#Spotting a violator

While you're on duty and in your car, every three to five minutes a car near you starts driving like it has something to hide. What it does depends on its hidden truth:

There's no marker. It keeps it up for about 90 seconds; pull it over before then. Only existing traffic is used, never a car spawned in front of you. You can also stop any car you like: every car has papers, and its driver gets a story the moment you stop it.

#Pulling them over

1. In your police car, press Left Shift. A red circle appears on the road about 9 m ahead.
2. Drive so the circle sits under the car you want. It locks on.
3. Turn on your lights or siren, or tap the horn.

The driver indicates, finds the kerb and stops close to it, clear of junctions and parked cars. On a road with no kerb they stop just inside the road edge. Press Left Shift again to let the car go. Drive more than 150 m away and the stop is cancelled.

#Taking control with U

During the stop, U opens the driver menu:

#Walking up

Walk to the car and press E beside it. The camera turns to their face and the contact wheel opens. With passengers, ← → picks who you're talking to.

You don't need a traffic stop to use E: anyone on foot, or sitting in a parked car, becomes a stop on the spot.

#The contact wheel

#Questions

There are 60 questions and over 500 answers, and it's a dialogue tree, not a list:

• They remember. Ask again and they repeat themselves: "Like I said..."
• Answers open follow-ups. Admit a drink and "How much?" opens. Deny it and "Are you sure? I can smell alcohol." opens, and pressing them can break the lie.
• Stories have to match. A passenger asked where you're headed may not tell the driver's story.
• Demeanour shows. Each person is polite, nervous, rude or chatty, and it comes through in how they answer.

#ID and registration

Ask for ID and their San Andreas ID card, with their photo, shows top right for 15 seconds. The driver also hands over the car's certificate of title (registration). ← → swaps between them; a tap of Tab hides them and brings them back until the stop ends.

Not everyone hands over a licence. Some say they left it at home, and some give a false name. A made-up name comes back as no record on a name check.

#Tests

Results go on the MDT's timeline for the stop.

#Searching

• Pat-down (E → Search): what's on them. They need to be out of the car.
• Vehicle search (hold G at the car): what's in the car.

What turns up comes from their hidden truth: a bag of white powder on someone with drugs, a slim jim in a stolen car, an open can of beer with a drunk. Everyday things turn up too, so not every search is a find.

#Running them

• Plate: hold G at any car and pick Run plate, or say "plate check" to voice dispatch. Any plate within 150 m works, parked or moving, and if you then pull that car over, the driver is the one on file.
• Name: say "name check" to voice dispatch, or search them in the MDT.

The return is the same record everything else uses: a stolen car comes back ⚑ STOLEN VEHICLE, a driver with a warrant comes back ⚑ WARRANT, a suspended licence comes back DL Status: SUSPENDED.

#Ending the stop

The driver gets back in and drives off. The MDT turns the stop into a draft report.

#Arrests and booking

1. Custody → Cuff.
2. Escort them to your car, then Put in car.
3. Drive to any police station. A blue circle shows at each one while you have someone in custody. Stop in it and they're booked.

Or call prisoner transport from the Backup menu: a unit comes and takes whoever's cuffed or in your back seat.

Stations are Mission Row, Vespucci, Davis, La Mesa, Vinewood, Rockford Hills, Sandy Shores, Paleto Bay and Bolingbroke. Move or add them in the configuration.

#Felony stops

For a high-risk car, hold G at it and pick Felony stop, or say "felony stop" on the PA. It works from cover, up to 40 m away, even from your stopped patrol car.

Each person is ordered out, walked back to you and put on their knees, one at a time. Some freeze the first time they're told. Some run. A driver might floor it the moment the felony stop starts.

#The PA

Hold B and speak (needs voice dispatch). Dispatch doesn't hear the PA. It understands:

• "pull over to the right"
• "driver, step out of the vehicle" / "passenger, step out"
• "everyone out"
• "walk backwards toward me"
• "get on your knees"
• "show me your hands"
• "get back in the car"
• "turn off the engine"
• "felony stop"

Shouted orders reach 40 m. On a felony stop only the first order in a sentence runs, so give them one at a time.

#When they run

Not everyone goes quietly:

• They don't pull over. A car with a warrant or a stolen car may run instead of stopping, and you're in a pursuit.
• They refuse. Someone rude, or with something to hide, may refuse the first order to get out.
• They run on foot. When you order them out or go to cuff them. Catch up (within 2.5 m they give up) or tase them.
• They bail. When a car chase ends, they may run for it on foot.

Get more than 250 m away for 10 seconds and they've got away. During a chase, hold G for the dispatch wheel's backup codes 1-3 and air support. See Backup and first aid.

How often each of these happens is set per hidden truth in the configuration.