Where are the police?...

[TheNomad]

Okay we've got Military Personnel, and civilians. Somewhere in the middle are the police, and where could they have all gone? You'd figure they'd be there, but maybe they're just civilians now? Just why haven't they shown up at all. I will understand if someone says "Well they tried to help those civilians that didn't look like civilians". Eventually they would have wised up against that. Then there is the Mall that would have guards, but maybe the Mallers got rid of the police like revenge ya' know. I'm just wondering about this..

[Adventureless_Hero]

They're probably fairing about as well as armed civilians, maybe a bit better considering thier training. There are probably pockets of survivors being led by police. I imagine a great number of officers were killed in the chaos of the outbreak. They likely had to be on the front lines of most of the initial attacks. That's my guess.

[TheNomad]

I can understand if they were courageous police officers they probably died when it initially happened. Though what if all of them didn't go. What if some stayed behind at the barracks. I mean no one has ran across any police since this started, no police stations were mentioned or anything. I imagine there might be rations, water, and guns/ammo there. Plus if you need to be held up for the night you could stay in a cell for protection( At least if a behemoth doesn't find you).

Lets just cross out rations from up there, because I forgot it's been months so any food they could have had is not worth anything except to insects, or rodents.

[Teethingbiscuit]

Id likely roast a rat. Once I caught eem
TB

[timberwoof]

Okay in episode 1 they say down town is swarmed with rioters are unable to subdue them. The mention the zombies attacking the police and military. Police were overwhelmed by their tactics because they are trained to shoot for center mass and by the time they figure it out the zombie is already on them. I'm sure there are some but with everything that is going on do you think most of them would reveal they are police for the simple fact they were unable to control the outbreak?

[TheNomad]

I'm sure there are some but with everything that is going on do you think most of them would reveal they are police for the simple fact they were unable to control the outbreak?

I do believe that would reveal it if they weren't alone to try and make survivors feel safe with them if they got away from the initial attack. Kind of like a confidence booster.

[SgtMercy]

Pockets of survivors, much like the tower, exist but with no "modern" communications (CB & Marine radio excluded) we could find them in the mountains or rural areas

[wooly]

Except for maybe one lucky officer here and there I'd say they are likely all dead (or undead if you like)

Given that they would have been the first responders during the initial outbreaks and panic the police would have been swarmed just like the rest of the civilians. No matter how skilled or how well trained it would just be a question of numbers & odds in the end if they tried to maintain order during that hellish beginning period.

Same goes for military, paramedics, security officers, fire crews, hospital staff and many others whose training is to hold the line and persevere when the conditions are bad.

The only people who survived were independent-minded enough to dump their existing mindset (and jobs in many cases) and adapt. You could just as well argue that most of the survivors we have met were unimportant, average folks - lawyer, prisoners, florist, student, etc. No one in the Tower had front-line jobs that put them in danger. They were free to hide. (the soldiers were Reservists, as you may recall, and not on base when it was overrun)

That's an interesting concept. Rambo dies but the flower shop attendant survives?

[Yoyo]

To be quite honest, I think that any police officer that would be likely to still be alive would be SWAT. They are not first responders and they prepare themselves first in dire situations. They would be also the ones best equipped to handle such situations in that they are well armed. Furthermore, I think after they have prepared themselves going to their stations that they would have gotten a better idea of whats happening compared to the first responders after maybe hearing reports that were coming in.

Another fact that may have been overlooked about the police is that the Second tower could be where a lot of those police survivors could have been. Shawn for all we know could have been one and that's why Marcus chose him to be his right hand man. A police officier may not be military trained by it goes a lot further in establishing yourself as a leader than a average joe.

[Cabbage Patch]

the Second tower could be where a lot of those police survivors could have been. Shawn for all we know could have been one and that's why Marcus chose him to be his right hand man. A police officier may not be military trained by it goes a lot further in establishing yourself as a leader than a average joe.

I think that's a good point. We know that the Other Tower got organized extraordinarily fast, that they were well armed, that they ran an aggressive program of exploration and foraging. Maybe they got off to a fast start because they were formed around a cadre of cops, maybe even one with an intact command structure like a SWAT team.

By the way, the main base for LAPD SWAT is the Metropolitan Division station on East 6th Street. Take a look on Google Maps and you'll see that there is a large "tower-type" apartment complex just two blocks away.

[HorrorHiro]

I rather like the thought of the Mallers killing the former law enforcement for whatever reason. But if I had to take a wild guess I'd say many officers were killed by people Mallers or not. The 1st responders to the outbreak(s) were most likely quickly overrun and killed or turned. Theres probably police officers at the Colony though.

[Cabbage Patch]

Anyone interested in a scary scenario showing how a police force could be quickly over-run in an zombie outbreak should read "The Infection" by Craig DiLouie. The story tells about an outbreak in Pittsburgh that has a lot of similarities to the one in "We're Alive". The infected bite the un-infected, who are briefly sick, then rapidly turn and join in the attack on the un-infected. The scene in question features a major police station at shift change. A small group of infected burst in, overwhelming the police in the lobby and blocking the escape of the un-infected officers. At first the police worry about hurting civilians even as more and more of their number get turned. By the time the police escalate to lethal force they are trapped, hopelessly outnumbered, and most of the ones attacking them are former colleagues and friends. In the end a single officer survives by jumping out of a window. Everything happens in the span of about 10 minutes.

[nikvoodoo]

I think the reality is the LAPD/SWAT teams responded to the "riots" and got annihilated. The army and army reserve would be called in after the first responders have already been brought in and got overwhelmed. Remember that the news crews had a chance to set up remote broadcasts, even at the quickest it would take at least 30 minutes to do that. By that time, any officer on duty would have been called into the heart of the riot.

Off duty officers would be called into stations (much like Michael, Saul and Angel were for the army reserve). Odds are, those police officers called in would have been sent not into the riots directly, but to the outer skirts of the riot to try to contain it from spreading. They get over run just as quickly as the outbreak spreads. Now you have stragglers who might have missed the call for whatever reason (just got off the overnight), they have the same chance of survival as any other survivor which is not so hot.

It's true that the further away from the epicenter the odds are the orders are different. LAPD would have been sent in to squash the riot because that seems to be the best course of action. That would have been the priority. San Diego PD would have been sent out in the streets to organize evacuations and things like that since there was no direct outbreak of violence to confuse the authorities in that part of the state and they would have learned that these weren't normal riots faster being removed from the situation.

[HaveCrowBarWillTravel]

All we have to do is look at real world scenarios like the Rodney King riots, the Anarchy riots in Greece and the recent riots in the UK to see how the local authorities would fare. Tear gas won't work (on the undead versions at least), There aren't enough heavy weapons and they won't deploy with them first off anyway.

[usmcludwig]

To add my two-sense into things- in season 1- you see an immediate nose-dive in law and order.
With this- you kinda have to phase out things like police, firemen and the sort.
Not because they aren't there, but because having them there would be a symbol of order- a false-order since society is already crippled.
Besides- you already have those symbols in Micheal, Angel and Saul, maybe even Burt.
To throw in more things would mislead the sub-councious direction of things.
As for what happened to them within the story- all purely speculation.
I kinda highly doubt any would be wearing their uniforms this far into it all.
My opinion is that the majority are dead- just like the military due to invalid technique and lack of vital intel on the hows and whats of the threat on hand.
Police are just survivors with guns. Its not the guns and training that saves ya- its the application of decisiveness.

[Cabbage Patch]

To add my two-sense into things- in season 1- you see an immediate nose-dive in law and order.
With this- you kinda have to phase out things like police, firemen and the sort...I kinda highly doubt any would be wearing their uniforms this far into it all.

I can see the advantages to there not being any police, or organized government in evidence, both in the interests of realism (they would be over-run fast, as illustrated in the prior posts) and for the story, where their presence would be a distraction. But I think that any surviving public safety officers would continue to wear their uniforms. Remember that Michael, Angel and Saul decided to wear their military uniforms for the symbolic value, and they continue to do so to this point in the story. Besides, uniforms tend to be rugged and they have lots of useful pockets.

[usmcludwig]

That's not true.
Michael specifically doesn't wear his uniform when he is going to the Colony.
Besides that- it is only clear that Saul continues to wear his uniform (as said when showing Tonya the picture of his wounds at the Colony)
But if you want to go on a trend of realism- wearing the same set of clothes for months on end is not viable.
I would much rather be in clean clothes than my cammies (or BDU's in their case), a real goal in long-term hygienic survival.
Besides- for the inner-tower people, it is Michael, Saul and Angel who represent the order- not just their uniforms.

[dontkillburt]

I think they need to go back and check all the donut shops for PD survivors. Randy's maybe (an L.A. landmark), but it's real close to the outbreak area.

1086

[Cabbage Patch]

I think they need to go back and check all the donut shops for PD survivors. Randy's maybe (an L.A. landmark), but it's real close to the outbreak area.

Could this be "the" Randy? Was Michael just craving doughnuts the two times he mentioned that name?

1089

[JusticePain]

I'm guessing they are turned or dead

[usmcludwig]

Could this be "the" Randy? Was Michael just craving doughnuts the two times he mentioned that name?

1089

Joseph Mary in Heaven...I think you're onto something

[GodofInsanity]

1st responders would have taken the brunt of inital deaths since they would be on scene before most anyone else. LAPD is sensitive to the idea of riots due to a history with them. The initial police units deployed would have been over run. The sop for riots is to encircle it and let it burn out like a wildfire with riot officers being the fireline using non lethal weapons as well as tear gas. As we noted this wouldn't do well at all against undead so behind them would be officers armed with live ammunition. This is where your SWAT teams would be along with officers called in for duty. It would be city wide and I agree with what was said before about police trained to shoot ceneter mass and not head shots. Couple this into seeing the undead for the first time with them attacking and using your buddies as nom noms could easily have the police outnumbered and overrun early in the game. Include EMT's and fire department personal taking wounded to hospitals and we see where these responders disappeared to as well. This could easily all take place within 30 minutes to an hour. Also typically National Guard is called out before regular military and reserves since the Governor can issue there call up without federal authority from D.C. So for Micheal, Saul, and Angel's unit to be called up so quickly would mean the shit really had hit the fan. We may see other first responders further out from the epicenters of the outbreak if they were able to get word as to how to survive before it reacehed them.

[JusticePain]

The cops are all dead or zombies at this point. maybe they will learn how to shoot.

[headlessstew]

They're first responders, so they would have been hit the hardest first when the outbreak started