The Police Maverick (also known as the VCPD Maverick) is a police helicopter appearing in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The helicopter also exists in the game files for Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories but does not make any appearances (see variants).
The Police Maverick goes on to appear throughout the HD Universe where it again assumes the design of the standard Maverick but with an appropriate police livery. In each GTA game, the Police Maverick (or its chopper twin, see variants) pursues the player when they have a Wanted Level of three or more stars, a role previously held by the police variant of the Helicopter in Grand Theft Auto III.
Design
In all of its appearances, the Police Maverick is a police adaptation of the civilian Maverick helicopter.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Vice City Stories
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the helicopter is used by the VCPD, having either a green primary color and white secondary color (GTA Vice City) or an olive/gold primary color and white secondary color (GTA Vice City Stories), with the "POLICE" text on the underside.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the Maverick is used by the SAPD and is operated in all of the three main cities. Apart from the different registration numbers on the tail boom and the black primary color and white secondary color, the Police Maverick remains unchanged from its previous game.
Performance
The Police Maverick flyable by the player controls similarly to a normal Maverick, differing only by its ability to pitch steeper than a regular Maverick, due to the slightly decreased mass (4,500kg vs 5,000kg of the normal Maverick). The Police Maverick has a slight better top speed and handling, given its usage as a police vehicle. While it does not have weapons or an average resistance, the Police Maverick is still a good choice for flying around the city.
Variants
| Image | Vehicle | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special variants | |||
 The Helicopter in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. |
Helicopter (police) | An uncontrollable variant of the Police Maverick appears in almost every game the standard Police Maverick appears in (with the exception of GTA San Andreas). The vehicle is internally named "chopper" but is named "Helicopter" in-game. The police Helicopter first appeared in Grand Theft Auto III where it assumed the design of the standard Helicopter (itself internally named "escape" due to its use in the game's final mission). The Helicopter does not appear in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as the standard Police Maverick is used during Wanted Levels instead. The Helicopter is used by law enforcement to pursue the player during Wanted Levels. | |
Gallery
Design
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Locations
The Police Maverick pursues the player during wanted levels of at least three stars. In GTA Vice City and GTA Liberty City Stories, the aforementioned separate model is used during wanted levels compared to that one used during missions or on police station rooftops. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the standard Police Maverick is used during wanted levels.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- On top of the LSPD Headquarters rooftop in Pershing Square, Los Santos after completing the mission Learning to Fly.
- It can be acquired in mid-flight during a police chase by climbing on the top of a crane and hijacking it when it flies by.
- Police Mavericks can frequently be seen flying over gang controlled neighborhoods in Los Santos and San Fierro when the player lacks a wanted level. If the player obtains a wanted level while one is nearby, they will not give chase unless the wanted level is three stars or higher.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
- On the roof of the Downtown police station (after the mission From Zero to Hero is completed).
- On the roof of the Washington Beach police station (before and after the mission From Zero To Hero).
Prominent Appearances in Gameplay
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- The Introduction - The Police Maverick is the first vehicle seen in these special cutscenes, flying over Tenpenny and Pulaski walking on the streets.
- Reuniting the Families - The first one appears at the beginning of the police raid at the Jefferson Motel, the same helicopter will ambush Carl Johnson and his brother after they manage to get out from the motel and must be destroyed in order to continue. The second one appears shortly after and will chase the crew through East Los Santos.
- Are You Going to San Fierro? - A Police Maverick will keep following CJ and The Truth and must be destroyed in order to escape from the farm.
- Cop Wheels - A Police Maverick is seen at the Las Venturas Hospital taking off from the building's parking lot when CJ arrives there.
- Breaking the Bank at Caligula's - The first will ambush CJ once he reach the roof of the Caligula's Palace and can be destroyed, the second will land on the roof of The Clown's Pocket and can be stolen in order to escape towards the Verdant Meadows Airfield.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
- Turn on, Tune in, Bug out - A Police Maverick flies to the Little Havana Police Station with two VCPD officers hanging on the right side to protect two antennas on the rooftop of the building.
Rewards
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
- The VCPD Maverick has a pilot appearing as a normal Police Officer without any pilot gear, and upon the destruction of the chopper, the pilot will drop a Pistol and a Nightstick.
Oversights
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- If the player goes inside Phil Cassidy's hangar next to his home, the Police Maverick will suddenly fly away and despawn.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- If the player does a replay, then the Police Maverick will fly away after the replay is done or exited.
- The AI-controlled Police Maverick may sometimes appear under the ground if using the Jetpack to shake the Maverick off multiple times.
- If the player manages to steal the AI-controlled Police Maverick, land, and exit the helicopter, the helicopter will act like it's still controlled by the AI, albeit can't fly anymore. It will even deploy SWAT members if the player has a wanted level of more than three stars.
- Doing a replay whilst controlling the hijacked Police Maverick will cause CJ to be wasted.
- If the player manages to steal the Police Maverick in GTA San Andreas while it is in flight, the helicopter will remain hostile. For example, if the player parks the helicopter and gets out, shots will be coming at the player from the underbelly of the helicopter from the ground; this is due to programming limitations.
Specifications
Model
| Model name | Texture name | Handling name | Text label name | In-game name | Swankness | Flags | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTA Vice City | polmav
|
polmav
|
POLMAV
|
POLMAV
|
Police Maverick | N/A | |
| GTA San Andreas | polmav
|
polmav
|
POLMAV
|
POLMAV
|
Police Maverick | N/A | |
| GTA Liberty City Stories | polmav
|
polmav
|
POLMAV
|
POLMAV
|
Police Maverick | N/A | |
| GTA Vice City Stories | polmav
|
polmav
|
POLMAV
|
POLMAV
|
VCPD Maverick | N/A |
Population
| Groups | Scenario sets | Frequency (%) | Driver model | License plates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTA San Andreas | N/A | N/A | |||
| GTA Liberty City Stories | N/A | N/A | |||
| GTA Vice City Stories | N/A | N/A |
Handling
| Max velocity (kmh / mph) | Gears | Engine type | Drivetrain | Mass (kg / lbs) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTA Vice City | 200 / 124 | 1 | Petrol | RWD | 4500 / 9900 |
| GTA San Andreas | 200 / 124 | 1 | Petrol | RWD | 4500 / 9900 |
| GTA Liberty City Stories | 200 / 124 | 1 | Petrol | RWD | 4500 / 9900 |
| GTA Vice City Stories | 200 / 124 | 1 | Petrol | RWD | 4500 / 9900 |
Audio
| Horns | Engine | Exhaust | Police scanner | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Model | Category | Color | ||||
| GTA Vice City | |
|
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| GTA San Andreas | |
|
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| GTA Liberty City Stories | |
|
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| GTA Vice City Stories | |
|
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Traffic Default Colors
| GTA Vice City | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| 46 Green 7 | 1 White |
| GTA San Andreas | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary | Quaternary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 Black | 1 White | 0 Black | 0 Black |
| GTA Vice City Stories | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| 46 | 1 |
Beta Content
- In the beta version of GTA San Andreas, there were LSPD Police Mavericks.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
The Police Maverick exists in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, although it does not spawn normally as other renditions. It has the same details as the previous versions, except for a blue primary color and white secondary color, and the LCPD markings.
Like previous iterations, the Police Maverick in GTA Liberty City Stories has an uncontrollable twin which is used during wanted levels. This makes GTA Liberty City Stories the only game to only feature an unobtainable Police Maverick.
Trivia
General
- The Police Maverick is featured in Rockstar North's Manhunt 2 as one of the numerous unusable vehicles, bearing the VCPD's color scheme.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Police Mavericks can be seen flying around without a wanted level in GTA San Andreas. They are not solid and do not have any engine noise. They also can not be destroyed, and their rotors are static. In the PC version of GTA San Andreas, this is not the case, and they can be shot down by the player using the minigun or other heavy arms (which instantly grants a three-star wanted level). Police Mavericks are most commonly seen patrolling areas of Los Santos dominated by gang crime, including Grove Street and Idlewood. They can also be observed flying around airports, presumably to monitor incoming and outgoing flights.
- In GTA San Andreas, the player can activate the Police Maverick's search light, however its direction can only be controlled in the PC version – in console versions, it moves in the opposite direction to the movement of the helicopter. The light can only be turned on at night by pressing
(Xbox), (PS2) or the horn button (by default: or ) (PC).
- This feature is unavailable on the mobile version of GTA San Andreas, due to the action button being unavailable. However, if the player connects a gamepad to their device and presses the action/sub-mission button, the searchlight can be turned on.
- This feature does not seem to work on the HD remaster ports of GTA San Andreas as pressing either the action/sub-mission button does nothing.
- In GTA San Andreas, the pilot, gunner and co-pilot are named "Jim", "Dave", "Ned", and "John" respectively. (Jim: There he is kill him, John! John: Why do I always do the fuckin' killing?!") and (John: Jim, you see anything? Jim: Over there!! shoot him!) And (Hey, I can see my house from here!) (Dave, will you shut the hell up? You, stop!!)[1].
- In GTA San Andreas, the Police Maverick will not pursue the player in sand storms, likely due to poor visibility. If the player enters a sand storm or changes the weather via cheats, any pursuing Police Maverick will simply abandon the chase and fly away.
- In GTA San Andreas, saving and Loading a game at the Jefferson safehouse will usually cause a Police Maverick to spawn outside. A nearby gang member will usually flee on foot, even abandoning any vehicle they were driving. At night, the Police Maverick will use their searchlight to follow the gang member.
- Both the Police Maverick and the News Chopper can be destroyed with a single shot using a sniper rifle, if the player aims for the roof (or more precisely, the engine bay, which is located below the rotor) of the helicopters.
See Also
- Helicopter (police) - Another police helicopter, appearing in Grand Theft Auto III, also later appearing as a variant of the Police Maverick used by law enforcement in several other 3D Universe titles.
- Maverick - Base variant of the Maverick.