Hello, police main here.
I entirely understand the frustration that you are having. However, let me try and explain it from a police POV.
Myself and
@Simon MacMillanis MOCU command, which is a better-equipped version of CID, at least in terms of equipment, and that's merely down to how said unit operates. MOCU operates on a more proactive deployment than reactive like other units. This means we essentially utilize plain clothes and personal vehicles to
gather intelligence. Depending on the offense, we might go around the corner, equip our equipment, and try and apprehend said individual(s), which either start a gunfight or not. Within the unit, we have certain regulations on how we should utilize these things, and trust me when I say this, we are extremely strict on how we deploy these assets.
Now, an important thing to note. Unlike CID, MOCU can only effectively target one, at most two, groups at a time. However, we rarely do anything other than observe and collect. Yes, if a gunfight kicks off between police and said gang, we'll assist, however, very rarely do we do so.
Within MOCU are both members of Firearms, CID, and RPU. So, we're essentially a joint venture between the 3 specialized units. Yes, being part of MOCU means AFO training, however, once passed, they're restricted in terms of what weapons they can use. In other words, only people in MOCU, who can use ARs are permanent firearms, rest is stuck with SMGs. The reasoning behind it is quite simple. MOCU's job is to gather intelligence during a heated situation, which sometimes means a gunfight is about to kick off, hence the AFO training. So, we need to be equipped to handle it, but unlike firearms as a unit, MOCU works more like CID and rarely gets into gunfights.
And, believe it or not, clothing, whether UC or not, has regulations. And these regulations everyone has to follow. And, before the last update, a dead giveaway was the duffel bag, since that was our only option, however, that's now been expanded.
This is important to note. In total 5 people within firearms can authorize plain clothes firearms. These 5 are myself and Simon, alongside the 3 firearms INS. The majority of the time, the plainclothes officers that you see, are MOCU. People who are CI+ can also authorize it, but that rarely happens.
In terms of equipping items with a key bind. I, once again, entirely understand the frustration. However, here's how we use it.
- When going to a situation, where police are being engaged, etc.
- If needed while on deployment, where we prefer to do it by our vehicle and/or in a place, where no one can see us. In other words, you won't see us run around a corner, and then 2 seconds after run back out to shoot. We run around a corner, wait a few seconds, so we're all ready, and then run out as a group.
Hopefully I covered everything in the original post, and if not, feel free to ask.
