Raccoon Police Department



The Raccoon City Police Department (R.P.D. for short), was the main law enforcement agency for the former midwestern town of Raccoon City and the surrounding areas such as the nearby Arklay Mountains. The Raccoon SWAT was part of this organization, with the S.T.A.R.S. teams being an associated agency.

Information
Like any other police department in the United States, the R.P.D. was responsible for enforcing the law and keeping the peace in Raccoon City and the areas surrounding the city. Owing to Umbrella's funding, they were a well-equipped force, possessing two elite units (S.T.A.R.S. and its successor, the SWAT), which is normally unusual for a small mountain community. The R.P.D.'s main headquarters, a former art museum, was in Downtown Raccoon, on Ennerdale Street, one of the city's primary thoroughfares. It is unknown if there were other precincts, although it is likely there were multiple smaller stations, due to the size of the city.

The Raccoon Police Department also had several helicopters with a helipad on top of the police headquarters. One of the helicopters launched to evacuate was destroyed when a stray bullet from Elliot Edward's machine gun shot the pilot. This killed the pilot instantly and the helicopter crashed, killing the officer and destroying part of the R.P.D. The R.P.D. officers are split into three main branches, the normal patrol officers who run the day-to-day operations of the station, the RPD's K9 (canine) unit and the Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.), later replaced by the Raccoon SWAT.

History
What would later become the Raccoon City Police Department main precinct was originally an art museum on Ennerdale Street in Downtown Raccoon. Police chief Brian Irons would later keep many pieces of art within the precinct.

Early into the Raccoon City Destruction Incident - around September 25th, 1998 - the R.P.D. was used as a refugee camp and fortress for the Raccoon City citizens seeking rescue. Most refugees stayed in the basement for safety, including the arrested reporter Ben Bertolucci, who locked himself in a prison cell even though he had a key. However, as ammunition levels went down, along with the number of survivors, some refugees left the R.P.D. due to its constant attacks.

The Chief of Police, Brian Irons, purposely made it extremely difficult for survivors to cope, scattering ammunition caches all around the precinct days before the outbreak was known publicly (around Sept. 22nd). The outbreak led to Irons becoming mentally unstable and he began hunting down surviving R.P.D. officers for sport, killing officer "Ed" on Sept. 26th and attempting to make sure nobody left the city alive.

By September 27, there were only eight surviving officers left in the station, along with three prisoners and three refugees of the disaster. All the others were either killed/infected by zombies or murdered by Chief Irons. In the afternoon, the R.P.D.'s west barricade was broken through and zombies flooded the station. The party of surviving police officers, led by Officer Ford began an operation together to rescue other survivors, barricade the zombies and escape from the precinct unharmed.

At evening, S.W.A.T. team member Kevin Ryman and the other refugees collected special gems which opened a statue, providing a small ventilation shaft to the outside. One of the police officers, Rita, left through the tunnels under the statue to escape and get help. However, by the time she returned with a van driven by fellow police officer Harry, three of the officers were already dead. The only people to get on the van were the refugees and Kevin, while Marvin Branagh stayed behind after getting bitten and infected by a zombie.

In the early hours of Sept. 28th, Officer Ford finally succumbed and committed suicide. Three more officers were killed by a zombie attack. Elliot Edward took over and attempted to lead the remaining three officers Elliott; Eric and Harry escape into the sewers, They later attempt to wire a bomb to eliminate the zombie horde on Main Street but are overrun before finishing it, leaving only Harry alive. Survivors happen upon the scene moments after and finish wiring the bomb detonating it killing all the zombies on Main Street. Later on the same day, former S.T.A.R.S. officer Jill Valentine explored parts of the department whilst on the run from the Nemesis. There she saw Marvin, who at the time was still alive, but unconscious.

On September 29, more survivors found their way into the precinct for differing reasons. Claire Redfield, sister of S.T.A.R.S. member Chris Redfield. Leon S. Kennedy, a new rookie officer late for his first day. Sherry Birkin, daughter of Umbrella virologist William Birkin, who was sent to the station for her safety by her mother, Annette Birkin. Ada Wong, a spy secretly working for Albert Wesker, and lastly, HUNK, a commando from the U.S.S. sent to retrieve a sample of the G-Virus created by William Birkin.

Elliot Edward, a surviving officer, fled to the precinct rooftop where he attempted to board a police helicopter out of the city. The rescue attempt went wrong however when the officer was ambushed by zombies and accidentally hit the pilot with stray machine gun fire, sending the helicopter crashing into the building. Later, an Umbrella helicopter dropped a capsule containing the Tyrant (T-103 Model), known as T-00 to stalk the survivors in the R.P.D. for the G-virus.

Claire found a dying Marvin, who gave Leon a keycard to unlock the rest of the station's doors. Marvin later succumbed to the t-Virus and became a zombie. Claire was forced to kill him.

Claire found her way into the Chief's office where she saw Irons with the freshly-killed corpse of the Mayor's daughter, up until this point a survivor. Claire found Sherry in the building and they attempted to leave the precinct via a secret passage behind Irons' bookshelf. The infected, mutated William Birkin later found his way into the passage via the sewers and impregnated Irons with a G-embryo. He then died in agonizing pain from the parasite in his body.

Meanwhile, Leon met Ada for the first time in the car park, where they moved the Police van out of the way (it was previously in the ramp) and discovered the only surviving prisoner, Ben Bertolucci. Ben divulged information about a passage into the sewers inside the kennels, but was later attacked by the mutated Birkin. Leon and Ada rushed to his aid and Ben handed over damning evidence of Chief Irons' corruption before dying.

Both groups left the R.P.D. in the early hours of the 30th, via secret passages into the Raccoon City sewers. At this time, HUNK, who almost died in the sewers after the mutated Birkin slaughtered his team, went the opposite direction with a sample of the G-virus and back into the precinct, where he fought his way to the helipad and was airlifted to safety by a waiting helicopter, taking the sample to Umbrella.

By the night of September 30, the precinct's basement was yet again filled with surviving Raccoon refugees (whether helped by each other, the army, the U.B.C.S. or other police is uncertain). Their occupation lasted until the morning of October 1, when Raccoon City was obliterated in a missile strike, destroying all life there. Leon and Claire were able to find a way out of city where they were found and rescued as a pair of the few survivors. Leon began working for a Top Secret government agency under the command of the President, whilst Claire joined the anti-pharmaceutical organization Terra Save.

Department divisions
The Raccoon Police Department is comprised of several divisions these include: Patrol, Special Weapons And Tactics (S.W.A.T.), The Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S) And a K-9 Unit. Information about these divisions is given below:

Patrol division
The Patrol division is the backbone of the R.P.D, containing some of the most recognizable division members in the city. They provide a round the clock service both on foot and by patrol car to the residents of Raccoon City. During the Raccoon City Destruction Incident, these officers were pushed to their limits in dealing with the many hordes of zombies and other creatures that were overrunning the city. They sustained many casualties and fatalities but still kept their determination and integrity intact.

Special Tactics And Rescue Service
The S.T.A.R.S. unit was founded in 1996 to tackle hostage situations, terrorist threats and other incidents where suspects are well armed. S.T.A.R.S. was specialized in Search and Rescue operations (hence their name). The team itself was more of an associated agency than a true member of the police force. For example, Rebecca Chambers had only recently graduated from university at the age of eighteen with a degree in medicine, and lacked suitable police training. Her membership in the team was only to stand in as a medic. As a law-enforcement agency, they still retain the Power of Arrest, as evident by Rebecca placing Billy Coen under arrest in July 1998.

Raccoon S.W.A.T.
The unit was created to replace S.T.A.R.S. after the unit was disbanded following their disastrous operation at Arklay mountains. These officers were specially trained to deal with high risk operations. The members of this team are highly skilled in the use of many weapons and are all in top physical and Mental condition.

Other divisions
The K-9 unit consisted of specially trained officers and their dogs - all police dogs were Doberman Pinschers at the suggestion of Chief Irons. They would've been a valuable asset to the R.P.D. During the viral outbreak, this unit was completely annihilated by the t-Virus, with all of the department's dogs becoming infected, and running amok around the basement of the station. The only known officer from this unit was Tony.

In addition to the divisions mentioned above, the R.P.D. also had minor departments containing 2-3 officers. Elran, for instance, worked in the "Boys Crime Department".

Clothing
The patrol officers of the R.P.D. wear a uniform consisting of a light blue shirt with an R.P.D logo on each sleeve and a pair of navy/black trousers and black or brown shoes. Some officers wear a navy/black tie, a police cap, or both. Officers in Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles are shown wearing white shirts, maybe because of a possible uniform change from white as the R.P.D.'s Summer shirt color and due to the Raccoon City Destruction Incident causing so much trouble, officers would have been too busy to change their uniforms from white to blue as a possible Fall uniform.

The Raccoon SWAT uniform consists of fingerless gloves, a heavy dark navy/blue short or long sleeve shirt with body armour on the torso and matching pants. They are also depicted wearing elbow and knee pads, bulletproof vests, R.P.D. Caps, bomber jackets, balaclavas, and Riot helmets (during battle).

Tony (a member of the K-9 Unit) is shown wearing a dark blue Tee-shirt and pants as well as a cap on his head. This suggests that this is the standard uniform for members of this unit.

S.T.A.R.S. members wear an undershirt with the S.T.A.R.S. emblem over the left sleeve and a Kevlar tactical vest suited for each operative's personal skills and specialty. For example, Chris' vest was equipped with a sheath for his combat knife, while Rebecca's vest prominently displayed a red cross on the back - the international symbol of a medical assistance officer. Each member is allowed to choose their color for his/her uniform e.g. Green for Chris and Red for Barry Burton. The exceptions to this rule are Jill, who wears an undershirt but also shoulder pads attached at the waist and a blue beret, while Richard Aiken sports an undershirt with the R.P.D. emblem on the right sleeve.

Vehicles
The Raccoon Police Department utilized a variety of different vehicles including Patrol Cars; Helicopters; and SWAT-style heavy duty vans.

The standard patrol car used by the R.P.D. was the 1992-1997 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, though older 1979-1990 Chevy Caprices still remained in service. For a list of cars in the R.P.D. fleet see here.

In Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, it can be seen that 1983-1988 Ford LTD Crown Victoria's have been used ingame to replace the 1979-1990 Chevy Caprices seen in classic titles such as Re2 and Re3.

The R.P.D. used Aérospatiale/Eurocopter AS350B police helicopter for air patrol and two UH-1 helicopters for S.T.A.R.S. operations, one of which was damaged during the Arklay Mountains operation.

Arsenal
The Raccoon Police Department possessed numerous weapons, which were heavily relied upon during the outbreak in 1998.

Handguns


 * The Beretta 92F/FS was the main handgun of the standard police.
 * The Browning Hi-Power was the other handgun of the R.P.D. Claire Redfield finds a Browning inside the glovebox of a police cruiser.
 * Leon S. Kennedy's primary weapon was a Hecker & Koch VP70. Handgun Parts for the weapon could be found inside R.P.D. lounge.
 * Kevin Ryman's primary weapon was a Colt M1911, a weapon that uses different ammunition from his colleague's 9mm handguns.
 * In Resident Evil: Confidential Report, officer Tyler Hamilton uses a Glock 17.
 * The S.T.A.R.S. team famously uses a customized variant of the Beretta 92/FS, designated the "Samurai Edge".

Magnums


 * A Desert Eagle was recovered during Leon's scenario. The gun bears the R.P.D. logo on the grip, indicating that it found some level of usage, despite being impractical for law enforcement. Magnum Parts for the Desert Eagle could be found later in the Umbrella Labs.
 * Chief Irons carried a Desert Eagle as his personal weapon, possibly used by him to murder a policeman and the Mayor's daughter during the outbreak.
 * Kevin Ryman keeps an unloaded Desert Eagle in his personal desk.
 * S.T.A.R.S. member Barry Burton is known for wielding Magnums as primary weapons. His Magnum in the original Resident Evil is a Colt Python, while in the RE1 Remake it is a Colt Anaconda.

Shotguns


 * A SPAS-12 was used by officer Raymond Douglas during the evacuation procedures on September 24.
 * A folding-stock variant of the Remington M870 was used by an officer during their September 26 operation.
 * During Jill Valentine's exploration of the city on September 28, she obtained a Benelli M3S.
 * A Benelli M4, was in the possession of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team's BUM, Richard Aiken, who specialized in shotguns.

Rifles


 * The S.T.A.R.S. members are seen on the team photo to carry several assault rifles.

Grenade Launchers


 * The Hk-P Grenade Launcher was one of two weapons available to Jill Valentine as she searched the S.T.A.R.S. office.
 * An M79 Grenade Launcher was recovered by Claire Redfield in the R.P.D.
 * S.T.A.R.S. member Forest Speyer used an Arwen 37 as primary weapon.

Machine Guns


 * MP5 Submachine Guns were used by SWAT officers on September 26
 * An Ingram M-11 was found in the Armoury during Leon and Claire's exploration of the precinct. Joseph Frost was seen carrying one in the S.T.A.R.S. team photograph.

Other Weapons


 * S.T.A.R.S. also had their own custom combat knives, the latter featuring the unit's emblem engraved on the blade (only two of these knives were seen, Wesker's and Chris's both seen in Darkside Chronicles.)

Known officers
Below is a list of known police officers from the Raccoon Police Department.

Design Errors

 * Famously, the RPD has no restrooms.
 * Attempting to overlay the gameplay maps of the building with the building's exterior model reveals a lot of unused space.
 * In the Main Hall, the door leading to the Information Office is at the top of a ramp and the door to the Waiting Room 1F is at the bottom of the ramp.  Passing between the Information Office and the Waiting Room 1F by alternate routes does not indicate any difference in height between the two rooms.
 * During its numerous displays through the series, it has several different designs:
 * In the original demo for Resident Evil 2, there is a door in the 2nd floor hallway where the red gem can be found on the statue. The door seemingly opens into the S.T.A.R.S. office, however, inside the office there is no door from there, and its a pin up board behind Wesker's desk where the door should be. In the final game, that door was removed, and a new door was placed near which links to the hall near the library. See image Here.
 * In Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, which takes place before Resident Evil 2, several rooms are boarded off and outside there are several things stacked to block the underground stairwells. It is never explained who boarded the doors off, or who removed the boards and blocks.
 * In Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 and in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, the RPD only has 2 floors. The third floor was removed. When in the main hall, it is noticeable after looking up, when the 3rd floor balcony is missing. In addition, when outside the third floor is noticeably missing, along with the clock tower (see image gallery below).  Additionally, The Umbrella Chronicles retelling makes drastic changes to the story of Resident Evil 3.
 * In Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City the front exterior and main hall of the RPD remain unchanged; however, outside of those areas, the layout of the RPD is completely different from any previous versions.

Notes and Sources

 * notes


 * sources

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