Police

Overview

On screen Rockstar’s official stills show Leonida’s police on land, on the water and in the air: a patrol car outside the Ocean View Hotel in Vice City, SUVs and a helicopter chasing a pickup through the Grassrivers, and a police boat closing on the Squalo at sea.

Reported Preview reports describe police who work from what they have seen. TGG, who watched developers play at Rockstar North, says officers stay off the minimap, search inside red circles and remember your appearance, car, clothes and weapons.

Key facts

• On screen Markings: VICEBEACH POLICE and EMERGENCY CALL 911 on a patrol car, VICE CITY POLICE on a boat.
• On screen Units: patrol cars, SUVs, helicopters, boats, and airboats with blue lights.
• Reported Wanted level: up to six stars, with a map-wide chase at six (TGG). Red Bull’s coverage also reports six stars.
• Reported Search: a small dark red circle for the crime search area and a larger red circle outside it (TGG).
• Reported Trackers: in every police vehicle and many others, removable at a fence or a pay and spray (TGG).
• Confirmed Prison: Lucia Caminos served time in the Leonida Penitentiary.

In the official stills

On screen In the Vice City still, one officer stands by the patrol car while another holds a woman by the arm. Around the car, one woman poses on the trunk and another takes a selfie. The car’s rear reads VICEBEACH POLICE and its side EMERGENCY CALL 911, with the Ocean View Hotel’s neon behind.

On screen In the Grassrivers still, two police SUVs with their lights on and a helicopter chase a pickup towing a trailer through the swamp, past alligators. In the Squalo still, a boat marked VICE CITY POLICE runs alongside the speedboat at night, a helicopter beside them.

On screen Jason and Lucia’s own stills put the police behind them too: a patrol car and helicopter after their dirt bike, an officer aiming behind Jason at a chain-link fence, and airboats with blue lights around the pair at sunset.

Our read Two different markings, VICEBEACH POLICE on a car in the beach district and VICE CITY POLICE on a boat, suggest Leonida has more than one force.

In the Extended Look

On screen The Extended Look opens with a raid. Raymond’s partner calls to warn that “our friends on the task force” are on their way (03:33), and minutes later police storm the building. Jason and Lucia recognize the officer in charge, Méndez, from the elevator (05:15). He also appears in Trailer 2.

On screen In the opening shootout Lucia, under the game’s control, takes cover and fires at the police when Jason calls for cover.

On screen The Raul job’s getaway is a full police chase. From 13:58 to 14:08 police cars pursue the crew during drive-by combat, Jason shoots at pursuers near their front-left wheel, and between 14:12 and 14:35 vehicles collide and a police car overturns. The crew hides and is spotted (14:40 to 15:18), the police radio reports no visual on the suspect vehicle (15:44 to 15:59), and the crew burns the car and switches to a van (15:58 to 16:18).

On screen From 18:13 to 18:30 a police chase plays out with a man livestreaming it from the stolen car’s trunk. The HUD’s row of wanted stars appears in the robbery montage (11:32 to 12:00), and outlined stars show during a motorcycle getaway (18:04 to 18:13).

The reported wanted system

Reported According to TGG’s account of the Rockstar North preview, as summarized on r/GTA6 on August 27:

• Reported Police no longer appear on the minimap, so waiting out a chase by staring at the map no longer works.
• Reported Below six stars, a small dark red circle marks the crime search area and a larger red circle marks a search area outside it.
• Reported The six-star wanted level is back, is not easy to reach, and brings a chase across the whole map.
• Reported Cops are smarter and harder to lose, and will shoot out your tires.
• Reported Many vehicles carry trackers, and every police vehicle does. Trackers come off at a fence or a pay and spray, and not every pay and spray is unlocked at the start.
• Reported Officers know your appearance, your car and your clothes, whether you were with Lucia, and what weapons you were holding. Changing vehicles and appearance is the best way to lose them.
• Reported Cash you are carrying can be lost on arrest, as it can on death.

Reported Red Bull’s coverage of the Extended Look says police judge suspects by clothes, appearance and vehicle, and that shooting out tires is an effective way to shake them.

Reported The top reply in an r/GTA6 thread on free-roam robberies (August 30), where other replies credit TGG’s video, says you have to plan around the police: bring a change of clothes, park a switch car and think about your weapons.

Our read

Our read The Raul chase is the reported system in miniature. Once the radio loses the car, the crew does exactly what TGG says works: dump and burn the vehicle and leave in a different one. If officers really remember clothes and weapons, the item wheel’s disguise slots and a spare car stop being cosmetic.

Questions

Do police show on the minimap in GTA 6? Reported No, according to TGG. Red circles mark where they are searching instead.

How many wanted stars does GTA 6 have? Reported Six, according to TGG and Red Bull’s coverage. At six stars the police chase you across the whole map.

How do you lose the police in GTA 6? Reported TGG says changing vehicles and appearance works best, and that trackers can be removed at a fence or a pay and spray.

Which police forces are in GTA 6? On screen Official stills show two markings: VICEBEACH POLICE on a patrol car and VICE CITY POLICE on a boat.