Civil Protection

"Now it looks like we're gonna have to cut a path through every chickenshit Metrocop who's having second thoughts about defending City 17!"

- Barney Calhoun

Civil Protection is essentially the Combine thought police of all urban areas on Earth, including City 17. Its officers are named "Metro Cops", while the spelling "Metrocops" is also used. "CPs" is mostly used by the Citizens and Resistance members to refer to Metro Cops. The entity uses the term "Metropolice" (the original term ), and the subtitles use "MetroPolice". The Overwatch Voice simply uses the term "Protection".

Part of the Combine Overwatch, CPs are ordinary human volunteers who have willingly joined the Combine, either for more privileges, such as additional food, better living conditions, an increase in authority and status over others, or out of genuine sympathy and identification with the Combine's aims. As such, they are not bio-mechanically modified in any way, unlike the two other Overwatch units. Barney Calhoun is notable for having infiltrated the Combine by joining the Civil Protection ranks as an undercover Resistance member.

Overview



 * CPs wear white masks hiding their faces, with built-in vocoders to disguise their voices; these each contain a radio and air filters, and appears like a cross between an old Soviet PMG and a PBF gas mask. They also wear a combat vest, leather boots with a black-green uniform, an armband on the right arm, with "c17:i4" emblazoned on it, written in a squeezed Impact font, and "C17" in the back of the collar. The first half of "c17:i4" refers to City 17, while ":i4" probably refers to a particular sector, the Combine using many code names for many things, as heard in the radio transmissions and the Overwatch Voice messages. However any CP model has the same code, likely due to game limitations.


 * CPs are typically armed with USP Match pistols and Stun Batons. In more critical circumstances, they will be issued with MP7s, use Emplacement Guns, and are provided with fire support from APC's and Hunter-Choppers. Some officers are also armed with a deployable Manhack and/or Flare Gun to call for help.


 * CPs are known to beat unarmed Citizens with Stun Batons at the slightest provocation; Barney Calhoun mentions being "behind on [his] beating quota", though it is not entirely clear if there is actually such a requirement or if Barney is merely joking.


 * CPs heavily communicate with the Overwatch Voice over their radios; they are thus constantly fed mission objectives, rewards, reminders, and are directed to respond to certain incidents (such as the locations of downed units or other criminal acts).


 * CPs are almost always encountered in squads or teams (terms used by the Overwatch Voice), and will employ very basic tactics, such as covering one another and running to cover when injured or reloading. CPs normally attack in an aggressive manner, and will give pursuit to evading suspects. The Overwatch Voice also suggests that each squad has a particular leader.


 * When a CP is killed, its radio emits a prolonged tone similar to that of a flatlining ECG, followed by the Overwatch Voice declaring the unit down, along with his last known location and orders to nearby units to respond. In fact, the constant radio chatter will generally give away unit positions before they are visible, indicating the generally inferior training the Civil Protection officers receive compared with their Overwatch brethren.


 * CPs are generally kept separate from Combine military units, such as Overwatch Soldiers or Synths, and stay in a policing role within the cities. They travel in APCs and Dropships and are often accompanied by City Scanners or Manhacks.


 * CPs sometimes stand on Combine Watchtowers. From there they can fire flares to alert the other nearby CPs.


 * Certain transmissions heard over the Civil Protection radios suggest that officers are rewarded with, in the words of the Overwatch Voice, "non-mechanical reproduction simulation" for good job performance. It is unknown what it really implies, although it can be surmised that it is somehow sexual. Another reward addressed by the Overwatch Voice evokes a "family cohesion" being "preserved", suggesting that a mission failure might cause trouble to the family of a Metrocop. Other radio transmissions suggest that additional privileges are gained if a CP has its memory replaced, this being related to the promotion to Overwatch Soldier or Overwatch Elite by willfully surrendering more and more human features and characteristics. Another transmission suggest that CPs are provided with "anti fatigue rations" of at least 3mg; this is likely some psychoactive drug to help the individual stay awake longer.

Tactics

 * CPs are not as organized and effective as the two other Overwatch units, and generally use weaker, more basic weapons, and are not very accurate.


 * CPs almost always work in groups, so when in a firefight with a squad or two, it is advised to hide as much as possible and shoot while they are reloading. As almost all of the combat they encounter is against unarmed and untrained Citizens, they will appear as being inexperienced with firefights against tougher, more competent opponents. CPs also do not carry out melee attacks unless they are armed with a Stun Baton.


 * In the early Half-Life 2 levels, a few pistol shots will kill a CP. In close quarters, a couple of hits with the crowbar will kill them. If they drop a Stun Baton in combat, it can be used as a battery for the HEV Suit. Later in the game, the best weapon to use against them is the MP7 which can easily dispatch large numbers of them at once.


 * In the Canals levels, many explosive barrels are scattered on, under or near wooden structures where CP tend to stand. It is advised to shoot the barrels for more effective (and spectacular) results. Metrocops will also occasionally use the barrels as improvised grenades, rolling them to Freeman after igniting them. It is advised to shoot them while they are still rolling.


 * In the Canals again, CPs often tend to throw themselves in the path of the Airboat or stand on breakable wooden structures, in a similar way to the Overwatch Soldiers with the Buggy in the Coast levels. This should be used as well for more effective results.


 * CPs fire their MP7s from their hip, resulting in bad accuracy.

Behind the scenes



 * Originally, the Civil Protection was to be named "Metropolice", name that survived in the CP entity, "npc_metropolice". Many Metropolice posters were to be seen around City 17, but were removed when the team thought that the Combine did not need to rely on subtle messages to achieve their ends. Three posters, designed by Randy Lundeen, are known: one involves the Consul, an early Citadel, early CPs (such as Combine Guards), and the slogan "It's great to be part of the greater good". Two other posters, including again Combine Guards, bear the ironic slogan "They're here for you". Some of these posters are featured in WC mappack maps, when propaganda was still an important storyline tool for the team.


 * The name Civil Protection could be seen as 'doublethink' (a term from George Orwell's dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, sharing other similarities with the Half-Life 2 universe), or the ability to accept and believe two mutually contradictory beliefs at the same time, which becomes apparent pretty quickly due to the way they treat Citizens. Civil Protection could be read as a protection of the state from Citizens, instead of protecting the Citizens themselves. The early slogan "They're here for you" is in that vein, the "for you" being ambiguous in the Civil Protection role towards the Citizens, being at the same time "for" and "against" them.


 * Metrocops were originally to have other colors on their uniforms, such as red or yellow, and the right armband colored red. One version also depicts them with bright blue eyes.


 * In the playable Half-Life 2 Beta files can be found several early Metrocop sounds, with the prefixes "mc1ans" and "mc1que". They mostly consist of chat between at least two different idle cops (as there are two different voices). Sometimes a bit hard to make out, these sounds include things like "You're in helluva a mood", "Watch yer mouth", "You expect me to believe that?", "Yep, this was definitely the best choice career I ever made", "I'm feeling pretty good about myself, ok?", "I wouldn't have kids [garbled]", "Supposedly we're getting a raise next week", "Your wife doesn't like me, does she?", among others.


 * A Civil Protection headquarters building was originally to be seen near the Manhack Arcade, with above it the sign "C17 MP", or "City 17 Metropolice", in the WC mappack map " " and its variants. In Raising the Bar, it is nicknamed "Cop Station", and was to be seen after and not before Kleiner's Lab.


 * CPs were originally to stand in Door / Guard Towers, hanging cabins used either to operate gates or guard an area. CPs were also to use early Combine Watchtowers near Sensor Gates, another cut Combine device.


 * According to Valve's animator Doug Wood, the Metro Cop went through several sets of animations during its development. None of them felt right until the team decided to give the CP a more bullying personality. Then Wood put a slight swagger into the CP walk and changed the chest posture to a more leading position.


 * An Orange Box Achievement, "Defiant", requires to hit the famous "Pick up that can" Metrocop with the can. Another "Pick up that can" Metrocop related Orange Box Achievement is "Submissive", requiring to put the can in the trash can.

Elite Metro Cop
Just like the Overwatch Soldier has the Overwatch Elite, Civil Protection was to have its elite version, the Elite Metro Cop. Its model is mostly the same as the standard model, but with a different helmet, as well as a different skin, such as a red patch on the chest, red shoulder-pads and gray trousers, and the same "c17:i4" armband, with some color differences. It cannot be found in the leaked files.

Combine Guard
Sharing its name with the part-human, part-Synth unit, the Combine Guard is apparently the first humanoid unit to have been suggested, and probably an early higher rank CP, like the Elite Metro Cop. Concept art from Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar show a soldier with a long trench coat inspired in part by the German SS uniforms of World War II. The different helmet versions were the basis of the final Metrocop and the Overwatch Soldier.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life 2
 * Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
 * Half-Life 2: Episode One