Law Enforcement & The NCPD
The Night City police department is the premier law enforcement in Night City founded in 1994. The NCPD is split into a couple of divisions in the patrol unit, beat patrol, traffic, cruiser, and airborne control units. There are also more advanced divisions such as investigative, vice, robbery, homicide, special investigations, tactical SWAT, MAX Tac, and Riot divisions.
NCPD Units
Patrol Unit
The patrol unit is the largest division in the NCPD with its primary purpose being to patrol any given sector to enforce the law and reduce crime. The nature of the role is dangerous due to how twisted the world of Night City is and thus the Night City Government pumps a lot of funding into this division.
Beat Patrol
Beat patrol cops are similar to regular patrol police but are assigned to their designated sector. In past years patrols consisted of a singular patrolling officer, but with threats like gangs, corporate shootouts, riots, drugs, and psychos, they’ve bumped it up to two patrolling officers. They are equipped with standard issue tools like a vest and 9 mm pistol.
Traffic Patrol
Traffic patrol is the lowest of the low on the hierarchy and usually given out as punishment roles by higher-ups in the police force. Their role is to enforce traffic laws, and the flow of traffic in Night City. Next is cruiser patrol which is a step up from the standard beat cop. They drive a BMW600 and assist beat cops on their patrol of a sector. Cruiser patrol is a little more dangerous in Night City due to it being a higher profile job.
Airborne Patrol
An NCPD AV-4 monitors the skies above a Cyberpsycho rampage in Cyberpunk 2077’s 2013 Teaser Trailer
Airborne patrol operates helicopters, aerodynes, and other AVs to patrol Nigh City’s skies. They are usually used as heavy backup needed at a moment’s notice. Air units typically consist of a pilot, 2 beat cops an officer, and a medic.
Investigation Division
The investigation division is smaller than that of the patrol division, but is seen as a step up. As you can imagine they carry out all criminal investigations within Night City. These cops are referred to as “Plainclothes” and are known to have the greatest knowledge of the city.
Vice Department
The vice department primarily deals with narcotics with an emphasis on trafficking, possession, and distribution as well as prostitution, gambling, and weapons crimes. A majority of their cases are undercover with vice cops spending months on end infiltrating dangerous gangs in the worst parts of the city. They are equipped with cybernetics primarily for infiltration and surveillance.
Robbery Department
Next, we have the robbery department. This department deals with armed robbery, burglary, auto-theft, grand larceny, fraud, counterfeiting and embezzlement. This department gets a lot of funding due to their dealings with high value crime.
Homicide Department
Next is the Homicide department, who deal with mass-murder to aggravated assault and the ever growing problem of corporate murders. They can deal with up to 50 murders per day in Night City which takes a big toll on their psychological well-being.
Special Investigations
Next, we have the special investigations department or SIN. They deal with more large scale and serious crimes that may need involvement from multiple departments.
These crimes include mass murder, corporate espionage, wide-spread organized crime, high profile kidnappings, counterfeiting, and brutal murders. Other divisions generally don’t like the SIN department due to it receiving some of the most funding and taking over pre-existing cases.
SWAT
The SWAT or Special Weapons and Tactics division is a rapid response unit trained to deal with high-risk situations. 10 SWAT members equipped with police vehicles and combat-oriented cybernetics are assigned in dealing with heavily armed shootouts, sieges, and security for high profile targets.
MAX TAC / Psycho Squad
A MAX TAC officer prepares for deployment
The MAX TAC also called the Cyborg suppression unit or Psycho Squad are a step above the SWAT and deal mainly with Cyberpsychos, although they are relied on for any response that needs the firepower of this high tiered law enforcement unit.
Riot Team
The Riot team is on call 24/7 and is dispatched in response to riots to control the crowds and chaos. Riot teams consist of 10 troopers lead by a single officer and are issued riot shields, armor, tear gas, and non-lethal ammunition. They use unique weapons like the Arasaka Nauseator.