With the cry of a siren, the Peugeot 3008 of the Marseille national police rushed towards the scene of the intervention. On the radio, the central defender warned that the teammates need reinforcement in an intervention. Protesters blocked a branch of a busy highway.
At the location within moments, the team discovers a monstrous traffic jam. In front of the parked cars, half a dozen ecologists shout, chant and shout. Yellow vests behind their backs, they chain insults as the police approach.
The little gang has their hands glued to the ground. Sitting on the asphalt, they warn about the climate emergency and call for the resignation of the President of the Republic, guilty according to them of not acting enough.
The scene has everything of a true police intervention. Except the police and protesters are just avatars. Welcome to the video game Grand Theft Auto 5.
Sur le serveur privé Studios DCPJ (in référence à la véritable DCPJ, la Direction centrale de la police judiciaire), des passionnés des forces de l’ordre et des équipes de secours se retrouvent pour des sessions RP (comprendre Roleplay, ou jeu de rôle in French).
Like in a Dungeons and Dragons game, each player plays a character wanting to be as realistic as possible. But here, there are no swords, shields, or archers. DCPJ Studios members prefer handcuffs, bulletproof vests, and stun guns.
almost endless possibilities
While the video game Grand Theft Auto is known for its depiction of violence and banditry, the Studios DCPJ association uses the Rockstar title as support for a life-size simulation of the daily life of peacekeepers and emergency services. .
Permanent police officers, reservist gendarmes, future peace officers… The vast majority of the hundred or so members of the server are genuinely in the post while others wish to become so. Every night they meet – some parts have capacity for sixty people – and simulate the adventures of the national police of Marseille.
A choice of city that owes nothing to chance. “The GTA 5 map brings together the city, the countryside and the sea, just like in Bouches-du-Rhône”, explains Robin A., 19, present on the server since its debut in 2016 and now general secretary of the association DCPJ Studios.
With its nearly endless possibilities, Grand Theft Auto 5 is well known to PC gamers for its mods, modification files that allow game elements to be added or replaced as desired. This feature of the Rockstar title gives free rein to the handful of developers in the association – but also sometimes with outside help – to adapt the title and make the simulation more coherent and plausible. Uniforms, vehicles and accessories, all the paraphernalia of the national police and the Marseille fire brigade could be transposed into the video game.
The same goes for the buildings in the city of Marseille. If the game environment is Los Santos, the theater city of the adventures of GTA 5, the map reveals the districts and streets of the prefecture of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. Over the course of an evening, the players come across the Timone hospital, the Bishopric or the Vélodrome stadium.
Respect the procedures
Most traditional GTA players see the game as a stress reliever where problems are solved with weapons in hand. But here, it’s not about hunting thieves without extensive training. It is this key step that makes the Studios DCPJ server unique and allows you to achieve a higher level of professionalism. Requires private server, all registration is subject to prior selection. After a written application for integration and an oral interview with the recruiting members, several training sessions (first technical, then practical) of approximately three hours each are necessary to be accepted into the parts of the Studios DCPJ association.
This cumbersome process can put some people off. Maxime Rio admits that a significant turnover is observed in the first weeks. But once this stage is passed, players usually remain around for several years.
The simplified training that the Tech&Co newsroom was able to follow leaves no doubt about the needs of the members. Positioning during road checks, phonetic alphabet and verification of identity documents or registration certificate, anything goes. And to this we must add the equipment to deploy depending on the situation. Sometimes the bulletproof vest will suffice, while certain interventions will require you to take out your order keeping shield (MBO), available on the server with a few clicks.
legitimate defense
The rules of engagement are also based on actual instructions from the police. Thus, in the face of attacks, the principle of self-defense is applied in the game, as in a real situation. The level of aggression is evaluated to define the appropriate level of response. Therefore, it must be proportionate and simultaneous.
The two trainers who supervise us are reservists: one from the air force, the other from the gendarmerie. Despite our accelerated training, one of them assures that “there is not much difference with the real training”. The second admits having better assimilated the methods taught during his theoretical courses by following his practice within the DCPJ Studies.
Play arsonists, for a good cause
But access to a police or firefighter uniform is not yet guaranteed. You still have to prove yourself for a month as a civilian and rack up a minimum game time to finally join the ranks. However, the role of civilians remains crucial. These are the characters who initiate the situations that the police and rescue teams will face during an evening.
We also went through this role, we were able to start a fire in an apartment to request the fire brigade, create an altercation in a shopping center or escape from a traffic control, leading to a pursuit and placement in police custody.
Unlike the base game, the modifications made allow entry to certain dwellings. Then simply delve into the setup menus to ignite the powder and start a fire. As we begin to suffocate, huddled in a room, the fire truck can be heard in the distance. It will take a few more minutes to hear the firefighters come in and save us from the flames.
“It’s like in real life, when you go online at 9 pm, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” enthuses Robin A., the association’s general secretary.
Contact 15 or 18…in the game
Realism reaches such a level that from the phone of their avatar in the game, civilians contact 15 or 18. One person centralizes the calls to dispatch the interventions according to the available equipment. To add to the soundscape, the software can simulate radio transmissions. And the Studios DCPJ association wants to go further. Always to make the most of the game actions identical to those of real policemen.
From his briefing when he takes office to his end of duty two or three hours later, each player can faithfully step into the shoes of a national police officer, such as a Marseille firefighter. But it is not surprising at all to read the motto of the association: “Our vocation, promoting yours”.
Suddenly, the radio rang again: “CI 710 Alfa of TN13, transport yourself to Marseille 15, avenue Maxime, we are informed of a meeting of several vehicles.” So, we stop our paper check and jump into the patrol vehicle. This is how the interventions in the DCPJ Studies are linked.
Source: BFM TV
