Sign up and apply to be one! As always on Life servers, cops are harder to RP well (because there are RULES, and cops are expected to abide by them). Plus they have to be trained (unlike civs and crims), and that takes a certain 'critical mass' of previously-trained officers suitable to be a trainer themselves. RDMing and VDMing are, of course, the easiest 'roles' to be on a server; Copping, on the other hand, is a lot, lot harder.
This is an emerging community - a new-ish server which is still finding its feet and its level. It'll get to the point (I hope) where Asdrubael has the police force 'up to strength' and then some great RP will be the norm, and there will be cops on the server much more of the time. I'm not speaking for Asdrubael, but I'm sure it's his aim - I'm sure it's the aim for a whole load of us players who aren't cops too!
So... if you're the least bit interested in solving the problem and swelling the ranks of the cops, and think you can RP a cop well, and are prepared to follow a few rules, then do sign up! You probably won't be a full cop by tomorrow, so set your expectations accordingly (I know Asdrubael has a big list of trainees to process, and this is bound to take time)... but I'm sure if you're keen enough, it will be worthwhile.
There are some *great* cops on the server already, and I've had some fab RP from them. I've also noticed them having to deal with a lot of abuse (not RP abuse, just plain, stupid RDMish type abuse and whining from idiots who think that 'RP' involves just shouting at cops for no reason or behaving in ways that would never make sense -even for a crim- in real life). I've yet to encounter any really bad cops (in RP terms, or in terms of just not knowing what to do), but I see people complain about this when they can't get their own way (i.e. when they're arrested for trying to lockpick the patrol cars, or following officers round shouting 'wanna buy drugs?' and other ridiculously implausible things that equate to childish or pisspoor RP). Most of the abuse just isn't fair.
Sure - in game, it's perfectly right for a lot of the civs and especially the crims and the rebels to have a 'downer' on the cops... but it's still about ROLEPLAYING this in a believeable way. Straight-out griefing the cops is pointless, because it simply makes people less likely to want to be a cop. It takes some balls to face that grief down, and STILL do some good RP... but that's exactly what I've seen from most of our boys in blue.
I hope there will be many more in the future. Who knows, CraigonPC... maybe you'll even be one of them. We might even meet and you might even arrest me... but you'd have to catch me first! LOL
