- "People will do anything if a cop tells them to. If we meet anyone, tell'em we're cops!"
- ―Francis
Two patrol cars outside the entrance to Mercy Hospital
Law enforcement or Police describes what is left of police forces and Sheriff 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
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 and may have just 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 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 even used the yellow police tape to indicate to people not 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 series use the same model and resemble the 2001 Ford Crown Victoria.
- The same police car model is used in each city in the original Left 4 Dead.
- The custom campaign Suicide Blitz is the only campaign where the Survivors go through a police station and features an actual police van.
- The police car encountered at the beginning of Chapter 2 of The Parish is unit 1702 from the 6th District and non-emergency phone number is 555-2222.
- 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 campaign, Suicide Blitz.
- It is unknown why infected police officers only appear in Left 4 Dead and not the sequel Left 4 Dead 2.
- Note that in the custom campaign, I Hate Mountains, the rural police in British Colombia are actually part of the national law enforcement of Canada called the RCMP.