Organised Escorts

SFO can set up official, or "organized" escorts. These are basically when it is advertised to civilians that SFO are organizing to protect a legal run route using the Public Service Announcement feature in game (requires C/INSP+).

Regulations

For clarification, a "truck" in these regulations is considered to be a Tempest Transport (uncovered) or larger. 2 of anything smaller than that would equal the same contribution to regulations as 1 "truck", (e.g: 2 Van (Cargos) = 1 HEMMT Ammo). 

• A sufficient amount of SFO are required to manage the number of Police attending in order for the escort to operate smoothly.

• A sufficient number of Police for the amount of trucks being protected need to attend the escort, it is recommended there are 2 Police per truck involved in the run. 

Use common sense for all of the above. Disciplinary action will be taken if the regulations are exploited.

Gear

• Box gear for standard Police can be authorized by the OC and only weapons that the rank can access from the box are permitted. SFO 3+ can drop to lower ranks but only if absolutely necessary. The only exception to this is when giving MX SWs to the MRAP squad.

• Standard police can only take weapons, scopes, vests and helmets from the box. Normal patrol uniform is required in order for civilians to clearly distinguish Police officers. If an officer is able to take a heavy from the box, they must get permission from the OC to do so.

• SFO are allowed to take heavies during the escort however, use common sense on how many depending on the escort size and potential threats. 

Vehicles

• The bulk of Police responding need to be in marked vehicles so they are clearly recognized by civilians participating in the convoy. Obviously, Black SUVs can be used by Police who are allowed to patrol in them normally.

• Black SUVs can also be authorized to Police in a marksman / scout role by the OC.

• SFO are allowed to use the Quilin (Light).

• Normal regulations apply when bringing a Tempest Device:

  • 8+ Police must be participating in the escort

  • 1 officer must be assigned to stay with the device to ensure it doesn't get stolen.

• Armed vehicles (Offroad .50, Quilin Minigun, etc.) can be pulled by SFO or by standard Police at the sufficient rank when authorized by the OC. Authorization should only occur when absolutely necessary, (e.g: hostile MRAPs, high threat level, a large convoy of 10 or more Trucks, etc.)

MRAP Squad

• MRAP squads can be authorized by the OC under one of the following conditions:

  • In response to a hostile MRAP (1 Police MRAP:1 Hostile MRAP)

  • 1 MRAP per 8 trucks present.

• A maximum of 2 MRAP are permitted in a single escort.

• Members of the MRAP squad(s) are permitted MX SWs

• MRAP squads need to be led by a SFO member or INSP+ unless a SUPT+ or SFO 3+ authorizes another cop to take leed.

Helicopters

It is an absolute necessity that there is at least 1 helicopter in the sky in order to track the location of trucks along the protected route and to spot potential threats. When possible, the helicopter pulled needs to be operated by a single officer in an Orca, otherwise a Hummingbird. Unless there is a high amount of police participating in the escort, the only time a Hellcat should be used is when the pilot is able to solo-spot, this ensures an extra officer isn't wasted.

Procedure

As the OC, you can conduct the operation in any way you see fit as long as the regulations are followed and the convoy size can be sustained with the number of cops escorting the run. Some suggested methods to protect the run are as follows:

• Stay with the convoy: Schedule the trucks to leave the field at the same time, and follow the entire convoy for the duration of the run. To successfully do this you must ensure that the trucks leave each point along the run at the same time, considering the fact that different-sized trucks will take longer to gather and process.  This is more effective when you only have a small group of Police participating as you aren't able to separate the group into different squads while still ensuring each squad has effective numbers.

• Separate Police into squads: When you can afford to break down the participating Police into smaller groups while ensuring each squad have effective numbers, a recommendation is to assign squads allocated to specific points along the run. E.g: with a group of 10 Police protecting the run, assign 2 to the field, 3 to the processor, 3 to the trader, 1 in a helicopter, and have the remaining officer patrol between the crucial points along the run to respond to any issues. These are not set numbers if you choose this method; as the OC allocate Police as you see fit - i.e sometimes it won't be necessary to position Police at the field, but just make sure trucks rolling up to the processor haven't been stolen.

To judge the number of trucks attending the organized escort, it is recommended that in the announcement message advertising the protected route you request participating groups to respond and state the number of trucks they are bringing. You could also not bring the bulk of the Police attending to the field straight away, but instead send a representative to the field of the run to report back with the number of trucks arriving so those that have stayed at the PD can respond with the correct equipment. The likelihood is that the number of trucks involved in the escort will increase gradually over time, so in practice you will be changing equipment brought throughout the operation.

Use common sense when planning the procedure of your escort as what's written above are only recommendations.