Police Chief: How to Clear and Set Up Your First Precinct

To set up an operational precinct floor in Police Chief, start by clearing floor trash to create open space, place essential workstations along direct movement paths, leave enough space around furniture to prevent pathing glitches, and establish a routine of processing paperwork immediately after returning from field patrols.

Clearing Debris and Preparing the Floor

Before placing any furniture or managing staff in Police Chief, you must clear the cluttered interior of the building's main room. The starting facility contains misplaced boxes, trash, and piles of refuse that physically block your movement and prevent equipment installation.

Approach the scattered piles of trash and misplaced boxes inside the main room.
Interact with each item to manually remove it from the floor.
Clear all central walking paths to ensure your player character and AI officers can move around the station without getting stuck.

Removing debris is a functional requirement for unlocking placement zones. Clean floors eliminate pathing bottlenecks, allowing personnel to move smoothly when handling incoming reports or transporting multiple detainees.

Workstation Placement and Layout Strategy

Once the main room is clear, you must place your initial workstations. Organizing your equipment based on the precinct's daily operational flow keeps administrative and booking tasks moving efficiently.

Workstation Type	Recommended Placement	Practical Function
Administrative Desks	Central desk area near filing	Finalizes incident reports and organizes case evidence.
Booking Terminals	Intake route near the front entrance	Processes incoming detainees directly upon arrival.
Equipment Storage	Gear racks positioned near the main exit	Equips officers for field deployment without station congestion.

Preventing Equipment Spacing Bottlenecks

When placing desks, filing cabinets, and computer terminals, leave clear space around each interactive side of the furniture. Cramming workstations too closely together breaks interaction prompts. If furniture is placed too tightly:

Player characters and AI officers will fail to interact with computer terminals or filing cabinets.
Unfiled reports will accumulate due to blocked access.
Active investigations will stall.

Ensure clear walking paths connect the front entrance directly to the booking terminal, followed by an unobstructed route to your administrative desks.

Managing the Desk and Field Duty Loop

Operating a precinct in Police Chief requires toggling continuously between administrative duties and active field patrols. Neglecting either side negatively impacts station performance.

Consequences of Excessive Field Patrols: Leaving evidence and reports unprocessed at your desk leads to lost case data and incomplete files.
Consequences of Excessive Desk Work: Spending too long on administrative tasks creates a backlog of unresolved criminal incidents across the city.

Maintain precinct efficiency by establishing a fixed operational routine: respond to field incidents, return immediately to your administrative desk upon completing a patrol, and process all outstanding reports and evidence before taking on your next field assignment.