Cyberpunk 2077: Theft and other crimes

Losing a police pursuit in Cyberpunk 2077 can be challenge. On this page of our guide, you can find information and tips regarding types of crimes that are punished by law, when a chase begins, what are its intensity levels (police star system), and finally how to lose law enforcement by escaping in a vehicle.

• What actions break the law?
• Police star system and the beginning of the chase
• Police operations, MaxTac squad and losing the chase

What actions break the law?

In Cyberpunk 2077, the law is upheld and enforced by NCPD officers. Only exception to this rule is Dogtown district from Phantom Liberty expansion. In this case, the district is not patrolled by NCPD, with them replaced by Barghest forces - a local gang led by Kurt Hansen.

The main types of punishable crime in Cyberpunk 2077 are:

1. Attacking police officers, Barghest members and pedestrians - this doesn't apply to situations where the crime has been committed without witnesses. In addition, NCPD doesn't react to gang on gang violence (attacking members of enemy gang).
2. Vehicle theft - it is easy to get spotted when you stop a vehicle in traffic and throw the driver out of it in broad daylight.
3. Using on-board armament of a vehicle - the armed vehicles are rarely encountered, and we show where to find such a vehicle on the How to get an armed vehicle? page.

Police star system and the beginning of the chase

1. Version 2.0 of the Cyberpunk 2077 has radically remodeled the law enforcement system. Officers no longer spawn next to V out of thin air, instead, they are informed of the crime and begin their search for suspects.
2. With the initiation of a search, blue dots appear on the map and these symbolize police patrols - they can head to the scene of the crime or patrol the neighborhood. To get out of the tight spot, watch the movement of police forces and run away from the dots to avoid detection and initiation of a police pursuit.
3. The law enforcement system and its intensity is governed by a star system. Each chase starts with 1 star. As the chase plays out and more crimes are committed (e.g. killing police officers from the chase) additional stars are added. The maximum level of pursuit is five.

Police operations, MaxTac squad and losing the chase

1. After you get at least 1 star and are spotted by the police, the chase will begin. The officers will be out to get and kill V, with no possibility of a peaceful resolution (e.g. bribe, going to jail).
2. The more stars, the more police enforcement units involved in the chase. You'll be chased by more police cars; additionally, some roads may have police blockades set up. When it comes to roadblocks, you can storm right through them or quickly turn e.g. into a different street, this way bypassing them.
3. On foot, you may be attacked by police drones and mechs - you can destroy or hack them e.g. to detonate remotely or temporarily disable them.

1. The biggest problems will arise after the chase is promoted to the highest level 5. This is when the Max-Tac elite squad appears, delivered to the scene by an airborne transport (example in the screenshot).
2. The deployment of MaxTac means fighting elite soldiers who can be treated as minibosses. Among others, they use heavy machine guns, sniper rifles, and employ advanced hacking. The best way of dealing with MaxTac is running away from the scene. Fighting them most of the times ends in quick death, especially if your V is low-level.

1. Your priority during a pursuit should be getting away from police units. The easiest way to do this is with a vehicle. You can either destroy chasing police cars (vehicular combat option introduced with patch 2.0) or lose them by relying on fast and flawless driving.
2. After escaping law enforcers, hide in some secluded place (e.g. side alley or in the badlands) and wait for the end of the chase. The police stars will start to flash and you'll learn from the radio message that the police lost the trail.
3. Once the chase is over, your crimes are "forgotten". The next pursuit will not start from the same level, but always from the lowest level.

Cyberpunk 2077

December 10, 2020

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