The Civil Protection, also referred to as the Metro Police, Combine Civil Authority or the Ministry of Civil Protection, was the oppressive police force of the Combine on Earth. The Civil Protection are ordinary human volunteers who have willingly joined the Combine for either more privileges, such as additional food, better living conditions, rewards for completing objectives, an increase in authority and status over others, or out of genuine sympathy and identification with the Combine's aims.

Overview

Half-Life 2

Civil Protection officers are police officers, armed with basic weapons and tend to attack in squads or groups. They can occasionally deploy Manhacks to flush the player out of cover; though they can easily be destroyed by a few hits.

A Civil Protection officer's uniform includes a bullet-resistant vest, leather boots, and grey coats and green slacks, both with a matching silver stripe on the limbs. An armband with "c17:i4o," emblazoned on it is worn on the right arm, and "C17" is printed on the back of the collar. Officers also wear white masks that conceal their faces, with built-in vocoders to disguise their voices. These masks contain a radio and air filters and are visually similar to a Soviet PMG gas mask. The mask is also able to display images such as pictures taken by Scanners for immediate facial recognition.^[3]

Civil Protection officers carry USP Match pistols and Stun Batons. In more critical circumstances, officers also use MP7s and Emplacement Guns with fire support from APCs and Hunter-Choppers. Some officers may be armed with a deployable Manhack and a Flare Gun to call for help in some instances.

Civil Protection officers are known to beat unarmed Citizens with Stun Batons at the slightest provocation; Barney Calhoun mentions being "way behind on [his] beating quota." It should be noted that Calhoun may be joking, playing on the violent nature of Civil Protection.

Officers regularly communicate with the Overwatch Voice over their radios. They are thus constantly fed mission objectives, rewards, reminders, and orders to respond to incidents, such as the locations of downed units or other criminal acts.

They are almost always encountered in small squads or teams and employ basic tactics, such as covering one another and running to cover when injured or reloading. Their tactical AI is noticeably poor compared to the Combine soldiers (possibly a design choice, to simplify combat).

Their behavior is aggressive towards criminals and they will often give pursuit to evading suspects. The Overwatch Voice also suggests that each squad has a particular leader. If so, the squad leaders are likely given the same uniforms as regular officers to prevent enemies from targeting them in a fight.

When killed, an officer's radio emits a prolonged tone similar to that of a flatlining ECG, followed by the Overwatch Voice declaring the officer down, along with their last known location and orders to nearby officers to respond.^[4] The constant radio chatter will generally give away officers positions before they are visible, indicating substandard training the officers receive compared with their military counterparts.

Civil Protection officers travel in APCs and Combine Dropships, often accompanied by City Scanners and Manhacks. Officers sometimes stand on Combine Watchtowers, giving them the benefit of a better view of their surroundings as well as a height advantage over their targets. They are also in an ideal location to fire flares, alerting the other nearby officers about enemy contacts.

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 implies, although it can be inferred 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 Civil Protection officers to be separated from their family.

Other radio transmissions indicate additional privileges given if an officer has their memory replaced, related to the promotion to Overwatch Soldier or Overwatch Elite by willfully surrendering more and more human features and characteristics. Another transmission suggests that officers have "anti-fatigue rations" of at least 3 mg; this is likely a psychoactive drug to help the individual stay awake longer.

The combat vests worn by Rebels are Civil Protection vests, either stolen from stocks or picked up from dead Civil Protection officers. Some rebels may have previously been Civil Protection officers, like Calhoun, and kept the armor.

If Gordon Freeman approaches any of the Civil Protection officers in the chapter "Point Insertion," they will respond with an order, commanding him to move away. If one continuously approaches them, they will light up their Stun Batons, giving a final warning. After that, interacting with those officers will make them violently attack or give chase for a limited distance. Another note is that throwing an object at an officer will instantly turn them aggressive and chase the player. Moreover, in some areas where a City 17 civilian is being interrogated or killed, the guards may be more aggressive.

Half-Life 2: Episode One

Throughout most of the game, Civil Protection Officers are absent, only mentioned by Barney Calhoun and then encountered in the game's finale. Barney remarks, "Now it looks like we are going to have to cut a path through every chicken shit Metrocop who is having second thoughts about defending City Seventeen." Later we see Barney again next to a dead Civil Protection officer outside of the Technical Trainstation.

Civil Protection officers make a brief appearance in the game's final chapter, "Exit 17," attempting to stop Freeman from escorting the citizens to the train. The officers engage Freeman with MP7s while also deploying Manhacks in their assault. The officers only show up once the player reaches the last group to escort. This timing has given rise to the suggestion that the officers were trying to board the train for themselves to escape City 17, as it is unlikely that they would continue serving as rear guard units.

Half-Life: Alyx

In Half-Life: Alyx, Civil Protection has a different and more minor role than the previous installments. Civil Protection officers are never directly fought in Half-Life: Alyx, but are encountered in the first chapter of the game, either patrolling the streets or driving the prisoner transport trucks. Specifically, two Civil Protection officers drive a transport truck holding Alyx Vance after her capture before they are killed by a grenade and the vehicle is taken off the road by Russell's drone.

Outside of the first part of the game, there are no encounters with officers. Criminal Holding mentioned early in the game likely refers to Civil Protection's main operational headquarters building (as opposed to the Overwatch Nexus), or part thereof, was to make an appearance in Half-Life 2.

Codes

Tactics

• Civil Protection officers are not as organized or effective as the other Overwatch units. They are generally armed with lighter weaponry and are not very accurate.
• Officers almost always work in groups. When in a firefight with a squad, it is advised to hide if possible and shoot while officers reload. As most of all combat they encounter is against unarmed and untrained Citizens, they will appear inexperienced in firefights against more competent opponents. Officers also do not carry out melee attacks unless armed with a Stun Baton.
• In the early Half-Life 2 levels, a few rounds from a pistol or a couple of hits from the crowbar will kill a Civil Protection officer. If they wield a Stun Baton in combat, they will drop a battery upon death, which can be used to charge the armor meter of the HEV Suit. Later in the game, one of the most effective weapons against the officers is the MP7, which can dispatch large numbers of them at once.
• Civil Protection Team units will hammer your cover (if breakable) until you have no protection.
• In the Canals, many explosive barrels are on, under, or near wooden structures. Officers tend to stand on these structures. Shooting these barrels will provide more effective (and more spectacular) results. Officers will also occasionally use these barrels as improvised explosives, igniting them and rolling them toward Freeman. It is advisable to shoot them while they are still rotating to prevent them from reaching the player.
• Also, in the Canals, officers tend to throw themselves in the path of the Airboat or stand on wooden structures. Officers act in a similar way to the Overwatch Soldiers with the Buggy in the Coast levels. Ramming either the officers or the wooden structures upon which they are standing can produce more effective results than simply shooting them.
• Since officers don't perform melee attacks with their weapons, it can be very effective to close in on officers with an MP7 if the enemy has an MP7, this tactic rendering it more or less moot.
• Civil Protection officers fire their MP7s from their hip, resulting in poor accuracy.
• One effective method of conserving ammunition and taking minimal damage is to wait until an officer deploys a Manhack or fires a Flare. They cannot attack for the duration of this action, making them easier to engage in close combat or sprint past. If they deploy a Manhack, it is possible to use the Gravity Gun to fire it back.

Behind the scenes

• Originally, the Civil Protection officers were to be named "Metropolice", a name that survived in the Civil Protection entity, "npc_metropolice". Many Metropolice posters were to be seen around City 17, but were removed when the development team thought that the Combine did not need to rely on subtle messages to achieve their goals.^[2] Three posters, designed by Randy Lundeen, are known of: one involves the Consul, an early Citadel, early Civil Protection officers (such as Combine Guards), and the slogan "It's great to be part of the greater good."^[2] Two other posters, again including Combine Guards, bear the ironic slogan "They're here for you."^[2][5] Some of these posters are featured in WC mappack maps, when propaganda was still an important storyline tool for the team.

• The term "Civil Protection" could be seen as "doublethink" (a term from George Orwell's dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which shares 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 fairly quickly due to the way they treat Citizens. Civil Protection could be read as a protection of the state from the 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. One version also depicts their visors with bright blue lenses, hinting that they might have had some form of night vision.^[2]

• In the playable Half-Life 2 Beta files, several early Metrocop sounds can be found, 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 phrases like "You're in a helluva mood", "Watch your mouth", "You expect me to believe that?", "Yep, this was definitely the best career choice I ever made", "I'm feeling pretty good about myself, ok?", "I wouldn't have kids even if they let me", "Supposedly we're getting a raise next week", "Your wife doesn't like me, does she?", among others.^[5]

• In the playable Half-Life 2 Beta, setting Metrocops on fire causes them to start screaming. Although they flail when ignited in the retail game, they do not scream.

• 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 "c17_04" and its variants.^[6] In Raising the Bar, it is nicknamed "Cop Station", and was to be seen after and not before Kleiner's Lab.^[2]

• Civil Protection units were originally to stand near Doors, Guard Towers, hanging cabins used either to operate gates or guard an area. They 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 them a more bullying personality. Wood also put a slight swagger into the CP walk and changed the chest posture to a more leading position to enforce this.^[2]
• Originally in the 2003 version of Half-Life 2 the Metropolice were to use Resistance RPGs. The rocket does the same damage as it does when used by any other NPC and they were to use it when in watchtowers. It was cut for an unknown reason, though it might have been due to it being too overpowered.

Elite Metro Cop

Just like the Overwatch Soldier has the Overwatch Elite, Civil Protection was to have its own elite version, the Elite Metro Cop.^[2] Intended to be a Civil Protection team leader, its model is mostly the same as the standard model, but with a different helmet. Other differences include a red patch on the chest, red shoulder pads, grey trousers, and a slightly different colored armband.^[2] It cannot be found in the leaked files.

Related achievements

	Defiant 5
	Hit the trashcan cop with the can.

	Submissive 5
	Put the can in the trash.

Trivia

• The Half-Life 2 soundtrack track "CP Violation", played during the chapter Route Kanal, refers to the Civil Protection and Gordon running against them to Black Mesa East. One of the most fast-paced tracks of the soundtrack, it also has a shorter remixed version. CP Violation is also a concept in theoretical physics.

• Civil Protection units appear to lack animations for many weapons. If given a weapon such as the OSIPR, they will do a reference pose and the gun will shoot 2-3 round bursts at the ground repeatedly.

• Some of the codes used by Civil Protection officers are also California penal codes. An example of this is code 603, which is used to refer to unlawful entry.

Gallery

Half-Life 2

Pre-release

Metrocop

City 17 Civil Protection armband logo, Beta version.

"C17" collar logo.

City 17 Civil Protection armband logo used by the Elite Metro Cop.

High-res and alternate version of the blue-eyed Metrocop image.

Early Barney Half-Life 2 model, with the early Metrocop texture.

Ditto.

Old version of Metrocop texture in the Cremator Factory.

The Cremator Factory in the WC mappack.

Concept art for Door Towers, with a Metrocop on the bottom-right.

Same spot in the WC mappack map "c17_old07", without Door Towers.

Old texture Metrocops in the map e3_terminal.

Metrocops at the front of an early City 17 Trainstation.

Four garages are located beneath that building.

Metropolice station near the same building. The letters read "C17 MP", or "City 17 Metropolice".

"C17 MP" sign.

Metrocop watching over Citizens in the Manhack Arcade.

Ditto.

Metrocop near a school bus in the map "subt".

Metrocop in an early Combine Watchtower.

Metrocop in a Guard Tower.

Metrocops in Guard and Door Towers.

Combine Guard

Trench coat version.

Version closer to the final version.

Several heads.

Propaganda poster including the trench coat version.

The same poster in a piece of concept art for the Breencast (right).

Propaganda poster including the trench coat version and alternate gas masks.

Propaganda poster including the Consul and alternate gas masks.

Chest texture.

Pants texture.

Back texture.

Sleeve / armband insignia featuring the Citadel, poster version, and the number 17.

Ghostly Beta texture based on the early Barney model (using the previous texture) in the way of this

G-Man image, originally used for the "e3_end" and "hazard01" ending sequences. This suggests Barney was probably a Combine Guard in the early stages of development.

Retail

City 17 Civil Protection armband logo.

"C17" collar logo.

Barney Calhoun, undercover Metrocop.

Metrocop on a fast food bag. The circle is also found on a hamburger box.

Metrocops at the City 17 Trainstation checkpoint.

Metrocop on the Nova Prospekt platform in the City 17 Trainstation.

A parked APC with CPs on guard.

Citizens about to experience a CP raid after the detected miscount.

Civil Protection apartment raid.

Barney watching monitors in Kleiner's Lab, one of which including a Metrocop.

Metrocops shooting at Gordon Freeman at the back of the City 17 Trainstation at the start of Gordon's escape.

Ditto.

Gordon's first close encounter with some Metrocops beating Citizens.

Metrocop using an Emplacement Gun at Station 12.

Ditto, near the APC garage in the Canals.

Metrocop shooting from a Combine Watchtower.

The "Defiant" Orange Box Achievement.

The "pick up that can" Metrocop

CP refusing Gordon to move on

Half-Life: Alyx

Pre-release

A group of earlier year Civil Protection officers, running down the street.

List of appearances

• Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
• Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
• Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (Non-canonical appearance)
• Half-Life 2: Episode One
• Half-Life: Alyx

References

The Half-Life Wiki has more images related to Civil Protection.

The Combine
Leaders / key figures	314 URB-LOC 0017 Advisor • Barn Advisor • Combine Advisors • The Consul (cut) • Vance (cut) • Wallace Breen
Minor members	Animal (cut) • Barney Calhoun • Mambridge (cut) • Peters (cut) • Unnamed Scientist
Humanoid units	Alien Assassin (cut) • Alien Soldier (cut) • Assassin (cut) • Charger • Civil Protection • Conscripts (cut) • Cremator (cut) • Elite (cut) • Grunt • Ordinal • Sniper • Soldier • Stalker • Suppressor • Zombie Assassin (cut)
Synth units	Synth • Advisor Pod • Attack Synth (cut) • Crab Synth • Dropship • Guard (cut) • Gunship • Hunter • Mobile Mine (cut) • Mortar Synth • Sacktick (cut) • Shield Scanner • Strider • Super Soldier (cut) • Synth Elite Soldier (cut) • Tbot1 (cut) • Unidentified cut Synth (cut) • Wasteland Scanner (cut)
Mechanical units	City Scanner • Manhack • Combot (cut)
Weapons	AK-47 (cut) • Autogun • Ceiling Turret • Desert Launcher (cut) • Emplacement Gun • FIM-92 Stinger (cut) • Flare Gun • GR9 (cut) • Guard Gun (cut) • Grenade • Ground Turret • Headcrab Shell • Heavy Shotgun • HK-707 (cut) • Hopper Mine • Hopwire Grenade (cut) • Hunter-Chopper Bomb • Immolator (cut) • Incendiary Rifle (cut) • Laser Tripmine • Launcher (cut) • MK3A2 Grenade • MP5K (cut) • MP7 (cut) • Overwatch Sniper Rifle • Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle • Pulse SMG • Pulse weapons • Rollermine • Sentry Gun • Shotgun • Sniper Rifle (cut) • SPAS-12 • Stun Baton • Suppression Device • USP Match • Wall Turret (cut) XM29 OICW (cut)
Vehicles	Advisor Platform • AirEx Truck (cut) • Armored Personnel Carrier • Hunter-Chopper • M2A3 Bradley (cut) • Merkava (cut) • Razor Train • School Bus (cut) • SWAT Truck (cut)
Technology	Advisor Container • Assassin tank (cut) • Barricade • Battery • Big Momma Pod (cut) • Binoculars (cut) • Breencast • Bunker • Camera (cut) • Cell • Charger • Citadel • Citadel Core • Confiscation Field • Dark Energy • Depot • Dispenser • Door lock • Door Tower (cut) • Dr. Breen's Private Reserve • Elevator • Emergency flare • Emitter • Energy Ball • Fabricator • Field Bridge • Force Field • Heavy Door • Heel Springs (cut) • Interface • Light • Medkit • Memory Replacement • Monitor • Overwatch Voice • Power Generator • Restrictor • Security Door • Smart Barrier • Supply Crate • Suppression Field • Teleportation • Television • The Terminal • Vehicles • Vorti-Cell (cut) • Watchtower
Locations	APC garage • Citadel • Citadel Core • City 8 • City 11 • City 12 • City 13 • City 14 • City 15 • City 16 • City 17 • City 24 • City 27 • City 17 Trainstation • Combine Overworld • Depot • Gate 5 • Nova Prospekt • Overwatch Nexus • Technical Trainstation • See cut locations
Other	Anticitizen • Citizen • Overwatch