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Police
"People will do anything if a cop tells them to. If we meet anyone, tell'em we're cops!"
Francis
C8m3 sewers0001

Two patrol cars outside the entrance to Mercy Hospital

Law enforcement or Police describes what is left of police forces and sheriff department deputies during the Infection. Like the Military and CEDA, they played a role in attempting to contain the Infection and assisted with the evacuation of civilians during the early days of the outbreak. Also like the military, many of its officers have succumbed to the Infection when they were called to duty and so they appear in their uniforms as part of the huge army of Common Infected in the original Left 4 Dead.

Involvement with containing The Infection[]

Infected cops

Infected police officers & a police car in Left 4 Dead.

In Fairfield, police were working with CEDA in an attempt to contain and evacuate civilians as well to try and stop the Green Flu epidemic from spreading after things got out of hand. At first, CEDA policy banned civilians from possessing firearms, which the police enforced. They may have also arrested infected individuals attacking people and rioters taking advantage of the situation such as looting and protesting.

When the situation worsened, police along with CEDA quickly began to become infected since they had direct contact with those individuals. When CEDA ordered the cities to be evacuated, law enforcement in the areas began to help evacuation efforts by keeping the public orderly and directing them where to go and began to use lethal force on infected individuals. However, the number of infected outnumbered the civilians and slowly the cities became overrun causing the officers to become infected and join the horde or were killed in the line of duty.

Law Enforcement in Cities[]

Fairfield, Pennsylvania[]

When reports of the Green Flu virus began to outbreak in the city, police officers were the first on the scene and attempted to deal with the problem. Realizing that the infected were "sick" and needed medical attention, officers assisted in taking people to the city's main hospital, Mercy Hospital, as well as contacting CEDA. When CEDA arrived, they used the police force to block off and quarantine the infected parts of the city, as well as begin mass evacuations of the city. Sadly, by this time, much of the city had become overrun, along with the police officers.

Riverside, Pennsylvania[]

Just outside the town of Riverside, remaining refugees along with police officers tried to make their way to the military protected town. One squad car is seen outside the town. The vehicle is abandoned with the lights left on, and the trunk open with the remaining supplies the officers didn't take.

Newburg, Pennsylvania[]

Newburg police were mainly in charge of enforcing the quarantine in the city as per CEDA. However, when it became evident that the Green Flu virus was a very serious threat, the police were forced to shut down Metro International Airport, as well as barricade certain areas of the city to prevent further spread of Infection. Once again, the containment measures failed, resulting in the officers becoming Infected and the military ordering a bombardment on the city airport.

Savannah, Georgia[]

Also working along with CEDA, the Chatham County Sheriff's Department was aiding in the evacuation of civilians and containing the infection. Police cars can be seen near CEDA evacuation sites such as The Vannah Hotel and Liberty Mall. No police officers were seen as infected or part of the horde, therefore CEDA may have actually had the chance to evacuate them.

Rayford, Georgia[]

Unlike most other cities Rayford did not want the help of CEDA so police, along with the towns civilians, likely stockpiled weapons, judging by the vary large amount of Police issued weapons in the streets. Police may have handed them out to civilians so they would be prepared for The Horde but despite the town being well stocked with weapons they fell when the infected arrived killing or infecting the officers. While infected cops are seen by Bill, Francis, Louis and Zoey during The Sacrifice none are seen by Coach, Ellis, Nick and Rochelle implying that the first group killed what was left of the police officers.

Griffin County, Georgia[]

The County Sheriff Department was aiding and directing fleeing refugees on The Highway to make their way to Whispering Oaks Motel and Whispering Oaks Amusement Park, where another CEDA evacuation site was set up to aid civilians. The civilians were sadly attacked in their vehicles and a mass panic caused the highway to become gridlocked leaving everyone at the mercy of the infected. The officers and deputies most likely fled the scene and headed towards the amusement park where CEDA again evacuated them by bus or helicopter (since none are seen as part of the horde).

New Orleans, Louisiana[]

With fewer and fewer police officers, CEDA hired a private security firm to help the police department in controlling crowds and aiding in the evacuation. In New Orleans, realizing that the virus was out of control, the police department was mainly used for crowd control and directing evacuees. However, once the infection turned up and the private security firm officers became infected, the military may have allowed the police officers to fall back with the soldiers and shoot all remaining survivors, whether infected or not.

Technologies used in the series[]

  • Police vehicles ― They are the most common form of transport for police, and throughout most campaigns in both games, can mostly be found in evacuation areas. However, they are also found in locations such as highways or in the streets, occasionally with their lights on. Their design is based on the common American and Canadian patrol car, the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.
  • Police barricades ― Police forces in each series used different types of barriers to help keep, and maintain control of, the public. In Left 4 Dead, police used tall metal barriers and fences to keep certain areas under quarantined by order of CEDA, as seen in No Mercy. In some instances, police used yellow caution tape to indicate to people not to cross the quarantine line. In Left 4 Dead 2, pedestrian barriers were seen throughout The Parish campaign, which were used for crowd control and to help keep groups of people together.

Weapons used by police[]

Left 4 Dead[]

Left 4 Dead 2[]

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  • Similar to real life, the police cars and taxis in both Left 4 Dead games uses the same model and resemble the 1998-2011 Ford Crown Victoria.
    • The taxi models still have the laptop from the police car models in the interior.
    • Only Left 4 Dead 2's patrol car and taxi models have visible interiors.
  • The same police car model is used in each city in the original Left 4 Dead, and every police car in Left 4 Dead 2 has the same unit number, district number, and non-emergency phone number, all of this was done due to the vehicles being minor background details. (& thus it wouldn't be worth the time & effort to have the numbers randomized)
  • The custom campaign Suicide Blitz (and its L4D2 version, Suizide Blitz 2) is the only campaign where the Survivors go through a police station and that features an actual police van. (albeit simply an edited version of both games' delivery van)
  • The only time a police vehicle has weapons and supplies in its trunk is at the start of the Death Toll campaign and in the chapter The Law in the custom campaigns Suicide Blitz and Suicide Blitz 2 as well as in the finale of another custom campaign, Precinct 84.
  • It is unknown why infected police officers only appear in Left 4 Dead campaigns (including their L4D2 ports, but excluding The Sacrifice) and not in Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns (again, except for ported L4D1 campaigns, minus The Sacrifice), although it may be to comply with censorship laws in countries like Germany.
  • Note that in the custom campaign, I Hate Mountains, the rural police in British Columbia are actually part of the national law enforcement of Canada called the RCMP, not a sheriff's department.
  • The Left 4 Dead 2 police car's livery is based off a New Orleans Police Crown Vic, with the words "New Orleans" removed & the phone number and badge changed, as well as a few other minor differences: https://www.flickr.com/photos/miniworlds/3979351345.
  • The Left 4 Dead police cars use a lightbar that is similar to the real-life Federal Signal Streethawk, while the Left 4 Dead 2 patrol cars use one that is based off the Federal Signal Vector, Smart Vector, or Vision.
    • The Left 4 Dead police car's lightbar also appears on the ambulance model in-game, and on the police van in the custom campaign Suicide Blitz.
  • Both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2's police car models (and their taxi equivalents) were later reused in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, along with the Left 4 Dead 2 pedestrian barrier model.
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