Civilian Operations SOP

1.1 Civilian Levels

MVRP uses two civilian levels, defined in Rules 3.1. Both are Verified Members of the community, cleared to patrol as a civilian once verified through the MVRP Discord and member portal.

Probationary Member

Every new member for their first thirty (30) days after verification. Probationary Members are expected to learn the server, build passive and mid-level roleplay, and take part in scenes that other civilians run. Their permission set is listed in 2.1.

Member

A civilian who has completed the 30-day probationary period. Members hold the full permission set in 2.2, including starting priorities and requesting approval for restricted scene types.

Probation ends automatically after 30 days unless an Administrator extends it in writing for cause. There is no separate application to move up. One standard applies to both levels: every civilian is expected to know these SOPs and the Rules, value their character’s life (Rules 5.2, NVL), and build scenes that give responders something worth engaging with. Any formal disciplinary action during probation may result in removal without the normal escalation steps (Rules 6.1).

1.2 Civilian Staff

Civilian operations are overseen by the staff defined in Rules 3.1. This SOP uses those titles and no others:

Probationary Administrators

Day-to-day civilian oversight in server: answering scene questions, monitoring roleplay quality, mentoring newer members, and handling first-line rule concerns during patrols. They may issue verbal and written warnings and may approve restricted scene types (see 2.3).

Administrators

Full authority over civilian operations. They handle suspensions and removals, review appeals, and maintain this SOP.

Wherever this document says something requires "admin approval," it means a Probationary Administrator or Administrator has signed off before the scene starts.

2.1 Probationary Members (first 30 days)

Probationary Members may:

1. 2.1.1 Run passive and slice-of-life roleplay (working jobs, running errands, background scenes) and non-priority criminal roleplay
2. 2.1.2 Join priorities started by a Member, using /prio-join and /prio-leave (see 4.2.7)
3. 2.1.3 Use firearms and knives in-scene, including inside a priority they have joined
4. 2.1.4 Carry firearms for hunting, personal protection, and self-defense in passive roleplay
5. 2.1.5 Flee on foot with passive intent (see 4.3.2)

Probationary Members may not do anything on the Member list in 2.2. In particular they may not start a priority, engage law enforcement with lethal force, shoot from a vehicle, or request approval for explosives or riots.

2.2 Members

Members hold everything in 2.1, plus:

1. 2.2.1 Start priority scenes (see Section 4 for the required parameters)
2. 2.2.2 Engage law enforcement with lethal force when the story genuinely justifies it (see 2.4)
3. 2.2.3 Conduct large-scale scenes, including shootings, when properly built up and supported by the priority system
4. 2.2.4 Shoot from ground vehicles during an active priority (never from aircraft, see 3.5)
5. 2.2.5 Request admin approval for explosives and riots under 2.3

2.3 Requires Admin Approval Before the Scene

This is the only place the approval requirement is defined; other sections refer back here. Only Members may request approval.

1. 2.3.1 Explosives of any kind: request approval from a Probationary Administrator or Administrator before the scene begins.
2. 2.3.2 Riots or other mass-disorder events: these pull the entire server into one scene, so a Probationary Administrator or Administrator must green-light them in advance.

Starting either of these without prior approval is disciplined under Rules 6.2 (suspension minimum) regardless of how the scene turns out.

2.4 A Note on Judgment

Having permission to do something doesn’t make it good roleplay. Lethal force against law enforcement should be the climax of a story, not the opening move. Lethal force with no built-up storyline is Random Deathmatch (Rules 5.2) even when the priority system was used. Civilians who treat the permission list as a "play to win" toolkit rather than a storytelling toolkit should expect a conversation with civilian staff.

3.1 Restricted Scenes

The following are off-limits in any civilian scene:

1. 3.1.1 Anything that violates the MVRP Community Rules & Standards.
2. 3.1.2 Scenes, characters, or parodies built to demean a group or a real person’s identity. These are not separately defined here; they are violations of Rules 2.1 and 2.4 and are disciplined under those rules, including the zero-tolerance consequences for slurs.
3. 3.1.3 Pretending to be an NPC/local to dodge law enforcement detection or interaction.
4. 3.1.4 Overtly sexual roleplay or nudity in-game. Light flirting and implied romance are fine; anything detailed or graphic is not. When a scene heads that direction, fade to black. Explicit clips, screenshots, or streams shared from MVRP are governed by Rules 2.5.
5. 3.1.5 Roleplaying as sworn law enforcement or emergency responders of any agency. This covers police, sheriff, federal agents (FBI, ICE, HSI, etc.), parole officers, game wardens, fire marshals, fire department or EMS personnel, bounty hunters, and bail bondsmen. Those roles carry real authority within MVRP’s department structures, if you want to play one, join SAMPD, SASB, or SAFEMS. (Out-of-character impersonation of real members or staff is a different rule: Rules 4.6.)
6. 3.1.6 Using game assets to pose as a responder: no GTA police peds under any circumstance. Rules for police and emergency vehicle models are consolidated in 3.6.3 to 3.6.5.
7. 3.1.7 Listening to, scanning, or sitting in any LEO or SAFEMS radio channel as a civilian, at any time, in or out of a priority, no matter what your roleplay is. There is no media exception in MVRP. This is Metagaming (Rules 5.2).

3.2 Resource-Dependent Scenes

1. 3.2.1 Don’t create a scene that requires responders who aren’t available. If the resource your scene depends on isn’t in server, the scene waits.
2. 3.2.2 No water emergencies (capsized boats, drownings offshore) unless a maritime-capable response is actually available.
3. 3.2.3 No fire, rescue, or medical emergency scenes unless SAFEMS is active in server; law enforcement can’t fight a structure fire or treat a critical patient.

Scenes that locals or county-style services can reasonably cover (basic tows, minor injuries handled via /county) are exempt.

3.3 Animal Roleplay

1. 3.3.1 Playing an animal is allowed when it’s realistic and respectful. Animal characters must behave like the actual species, real limitations included, and should not attack people unless provoked.
2. 3.3.2 Animal RP must stand as its own scene. Bringing an animal character into someone else’s active scene is handled under Scene Leeching (3.12).
3. 3.3.3 Prohibited: monkeys, chimpanzees, and any mythical creature. Sasquatch is only permitted as a person in a costume.

3.4 Military Roleplay

Military characters are flavor, not authority. They hold no power over law enforcement operations and cannot direct, override, or outrank responders in any scene.

3.5 Aircraft Roleplay

Aircraft scenes must stay grounded in realism (figuratively). Aircraft may factor into illegal roleplay with these hard limits:

1. 3.5.1 No firing weapons from an aircraft. The vehicle-shooting permission in 2.2.4 does not extend to aircraft.
2. 3.5.2 No using an aircraft to flee law enforcement.
3. 3.5.3 No terrorism-style scenes, crashing into buildings or players is prohibited.
4. 3.5.4 Aircraft emergencies are resource-dependent scenes under 3.2.3: at least one SAFEMS member must be active in server.

3.6 Vehicle Regulations

1. 3.6.1 Every vehicle must be registered in SonoranCAD before it touches the roadway, including newly acquired ones. The only exceptions: you’re deliberately roleplaying the vehicle as unregistered, or it’s registered under a legitimate in-character entity.
2. 3.6.2 Vulgar or unrealistic license plates are prohibited (parent: Rules 2.5). If your plate wouldn’t survive a real DMV’s filter, it doesn’t belong in MVRP.
3. 3.6.3 Police and emergency vehicle models. Lore and vanilla GTA police or emergency vehicle models may be driven by civilians only when fully unmarked: no livery, no agency markings, no emergency lighting in use. This is the single rule on the subject; there is no separate "general use" allowance for vanilla models.
4. 3.6.4 Stolen police vehicles. A marked or liveried police vehicle may only be in a civilian’s possession if it was stolen as part of a scene you are already an active participant in. It may not be used to pose as an officer (see 3.1.6), and it expires with that patrol, you can’t stash one and bring it back for a later scene on a different patrol. Taking an emergency vehicle from a scene you are not part of is Scene Leeching (3.12).
5. 3.6.5 "Retired LEO vehicle" characters may not use vehicles that are actively part of the SAMPD/SASB fleet, and must still comply with 3.6.3.
6. 3.6.6 Vehicle speed, power, or torque multipliers are never permitted on a civilian character (Rules 5.3.1).

3.7 Character Regulations

1. 3.7.1 Characters must fit the world: reasonable realism appropriate to the tone of the server, with no supernatural powers, superhuman abilities, or absurd traits (parent: Rules 5.2, Powergaming).
2. 3.7.2 Characters must be made in good faith for storytelling, not as vehicles for trolling, griefing, or derailing other people’s roleplay (parent: Rules 2.3). This is the only place that rule is stated in this SOP; 3.11 governs names and parodies only.
3. 3.7.3 Fill out your character completely in SonoranCAD. A realistic character photo is recommended, shoulders up, clear face, no masks or sunglasses.
4. 3.7.4 You are responsible for keeping your own licensing current in the CAD: driver’s license, firearm license, hunting license, and vehicle registrations. Expired paperwork is an in-character problem your character will face the consequences for.

3.8 Roleplaying Injuries

Injuries must be played honestly and proportionately. After a crash, you may only drive off if both the vehicle and your character could realistically still operate; a totaled car doesn’t limp away, and neither does a driver with a shattered arm. Doing otherwise is Fail Roleplay (Rules 5.2).

3.9 Incapacitation Cooldowns

After hospitalization, the character involved goes on cooldown. Ignoring a cooldown is treated as No Value of Life (Rules 5.2).

1. 3.9.1 Non-life-threatening injury: 1 hour. Minor burns, road rash, anything a hospital would discharge same-day.
2. 3.9.2 Serious injury: 12 hours. Multiple broken bones, serious gunshot wounds, anything that would realistically keep you admitted for days.
3. 3.9.3 Death: 72 hours. Value your character’s life; if you want to play them often, don’t spend them cheaply.

3.10 Incarceration Cooldowns

After an arrest, the character serves simulated time before returning to play:

1. 3.10.1 Misdemeanors: 12 hours per charge, capped at 48 hours.
2. 3.10.2 Felonies: 24 hours per charge, capped at 72 hours.
3. 3.10.3 No combination of charges pushes the cooldown past 72 hours total. If a character is both injured and arrested in the same scene, the longer of the two cooldowns applies; they do not stack. Use the downtime to play a different character and diversify your roleplay.

3.11 Character Names & Parodies

Allowed: normal names that fit San Andreas; mildly unusual names a real person could plausibly have; parody characters loosely inspired by public figures, provided the name isn’t identical and the character mimics a style rather than copying a person.

Not allowed: shock-value scenes depicting violence against real public or political figures, and imitations so close to a real individual that the two could be confused. Parodies that target a real person’s religion, ethnicity, protected status, or personal tragedy are violations of Rules 2.1 and 2.4 (see 3.1.2); characters built to troll are covered by 3.7.2. Be thoughtful when a concept brushes against sensitive or controversial territory.

3.12 Scene Leeching

Leeching is inserting yourself into someone else’s active scene to pull focus, escalating it, hijacking it, or forcing responders to split off and deal with you, without a genuine in-character reason.

Leeching is different from Cop Baiting (Rules 5.2): Cop Baiting is provoking responders with no scene behind it to manufacture their attention; Leeching is intruding on a scene that already exists. Staff cite whichever fits; the same act is not charged under both.

Not allowed: showing up at an active scene to launch a new priority or manufacture chaos; taking emergency vehicles from, or interfering with responders at, a scene you’re not part of; picking fights or committing crimes in front of LEO/Fire/EMS just to steal their attention; overriding the original participants’ storyline; or converging on scenes you found by monitoring chat channels (this is also Metagaming, Rules 5.2).

Allowed: being in the area when it makes sense for your character; watching passively from a realistic distance; continuing roleplay you were already doing nearby; and responding naturally if law enforcement approaches you.

Proximity alone is never leeching, intent and impact are what matter. Before involving yourself, ask: would my character realistically step into this? Am I adding to this scene or draining it? Would my involvement force responders to abandon the original call? If the honest answer is that your main contribution is disruption, stay out.

3.13 Megaphones

Megaphone use must be realistic, justified, and tied to the active scene. Megaphones are not a trolling tool, a harassment tool, or a way to gain an advantage. If someone is too far away to hear you, find a communication method that makes in-character sense.

3.14 AI & Autonomous Vehicles

AI-controlled or autonomous vehicles are permitted only within these bounds. Breaking 3.14.4, 3.14.5, or 3.14.6 is Powergaming (Rules 5.2).

1. 3.14.1 They may only appear in approved scenarios and must follow all server rules; the operator is responsible for everything the vehicle does.
2. 3.14.2 No voice output, text-to-speech, or autonomous verbal interaction with players.
3. 3.14.3 Never used as a weapon: no striking or injuring civilians, LEO, or emergency personnel.
4. 3.14.4 Never the initiator or primary vehicle in a priority (pursuits, active crime scenes, hostage situations, felony stops, etc.).
5. 3.14.5 Must be stoppable; law enforcement must have a realistic RP path to disable or override it.
6. 3.14.6 No evading police through impossible maneuvers or automated-pathing tricks.
7. 3.14.7 Must obey standard traffic law outside of approved scenarios.
8. 3.14.8 May not operate without a supervising player actively in-game.

4.1 What Counts as a Priority

A priority is any call whose nature would draw a large-scale law enforcement response or put officers’ lives on the line. Priority call types include: vehicle pursuits, hostile-intent foot pursuits (see 4.3), bomb threats, hostage situations, active shooters, riots, robberies, kidnappings, barricaded suspects, and prank calls designed to trigger a large response (swatting, fake shooter calls, and the like). Riots and any priority involving explosives also need approval under 2.3. Only Members may start a priority (2.2.1).

4.2 Priority Activation Parameters

1. 4.2.1 You must have been in server as a civilian for at least 30 minutes before starting a priority.
2. 4.2.2 A minimum of four (4) LEO must be in server before a priority can be activated.
3. 4.2.3 Only one priority runs at a time, and the cooldown between priorities is enforced automatically by the priority script; check availability with /prio-cd before planning your scene.
4. 4.2.4 Claiming a priority is a single sequence done immediately before the scene begins: (1) announce in /civchat that you are taking the priority, then (2) run /prio-start within two minutes. The /civchat announcement exists so other civilians know it’s claimed; it does not hold the priority on its own.
5. 4.2.5 No reserving. A priority is claimed by completing 4.2.4, not by calling dibs. Announcing intent and then not starting within two minutes, or announcing well in advance to "hold" the slot, is not permitted. If you claim one and then can’t run it (arrested, detained, disconnected), it’s forfeit; contact a Probationary Administrator or above to reset the timer.
6. 4.2.6 Close the priority with /prio-stop once you’re arrested, incapacitated, or the scene resolves.
7. 4.2.7 Anyone joining an active priority must use /prio-join, and /prio-leave when they’re no longer involved. Civilians may participate in someone else’s priority, but only the initiator "owns" it.
8. 4.2.8 A maximum of four civilians may simultaneously elude law enforcement in separate vehicles during a priority.
9. 4.2.9 Radio monitoring is prohibited at all times under 3.1.7; being in a priority changes nothing about that.

4.3 Foot Pursuits

1. 4.3.1 Hostile intent: grand theft auto, being visibly armed, physical altercations, or any attempt to harm responders or civilians, makes the foot pursuit a priority: the priority system must be used.
2. 4.3.2 Passive intent: simply running from police with no threat to public safety, does not require the priority system.
3. 4.3.3 Water changes everything: a foot pursuit that starts on land stays a non-priority only while it stays on land. The moment a fleeing civilian enters the water, it becomes a priority scene and the priority system applies.

Civilian discipline uses the community-wide process in Rules Section 6; this SOP does not have its own. In short:

Who issues it

Probationary Administrators issue verbal and written warnings; Administrators issue suspensions and removals (Rules 6.1).

Probationary Members

Any formal action during the 30-day probationary period may be converted to removal by an Administrator (Rules 6.1).

How it’s decided

Case by case, within the ranges in Rules 6.2.

What the notice says

The parent rule from the Community Rules where one exists, the SOP section number from this document, and the action taken (Rules 6.3). Example: Rules 5.2 Metagaming, via Civilian SOP 3.1.7: written warning. A pure mechanics violation with no parent cites the SOP alone: Civilian SOP 4.2.5: verbal warning.

Repeat violations

A second violation of the same rule number within sixty (60) days escalates at least one step (Rules 6.2).

Appeals

One appeal per formal action, within 72 hours, through a Discord ticket, reviewed by an uninvolved Administrator (Rules 6.4).