This Is the Police 2 Beginner Tips - Officers, Calls, and TacOps

This Is the Police 2 is a police-management strategy game by Weappy Studio and published by THQ Nordic. You run Sharpwood’s sheriff’s department, assign officers to calls, handle investigations, manage unreliable staff, and step into turn-based tactical operations when a situation becomes dangerous.

Content warning: This Is the Police 2 is rated for mature themes including graphic crime violence, sexual content references, strong language, and drug content. This guide discusses play systems only and keeps those themes non-graphic.

This is a beginner guide, but the game itself is tougher than that label suggests. Early tutorials introduce systems gradually, then the pressure rises as tired officers, staff conflicts, tactical injuries, and bad call assignments start stacking across the day.

Essential Tips

1. Treat Staffing as the Main Game

Sharpwood is not won one call at a time. It is won by keeping enough usable officers alive, rested, and willing to work. Before you respond to the next emergency, look at the roster like a budget: who is tired, who is unreliable, who can cover a later high-risk call, and who should stay back because sending them out could create a bigger problem.

Do not spend your best officers just because they are available. If a call looks routine, consider whether a lower-risk assignment can handle it while your better team stays ready. The game often punishes the empty-station feeling more than a single imperfect response.

2. Match Officers to the Call Text

The officer stats are not decoration. Intelligence, Speed, Shooting, Strength, Negotiation, and Stealth all point toward different answers. A tense civilian situation wants different skills than an armed confrontation or a stealthy operation. Read the call description, imagine how it might escalate, then assign people who can solve the likely problem rather than simply meeting the minimum number.

Negotiation is especially easy to undervalue because it does not look as dramatic as weapons or speed. When a problem can be talked down, the right officer may prevent injuries, deaths, and wasted equipment before the day gets messy.

3. Respect Professionalism Requirements

Calls can ask for a minimum professionalism level, and more dangerous jobs ask for more. Meeting the number is not the same as being prepared. If a call has a high requirement, assume it can turn ugly and ask whether your team also has the right skills, enough energy, and suitable gear.

When you barely meet a requirement, play conservatively afterward. A successful response that exhausts your entire shift can still leave you exposed to the next call, investigation, or tactical operation.

4. Do Not Send Exhausted Officers

Energy is one of the most important long-term resources in the game. Officers burn it when they go out, and tired staff can create serious consequences. If an officer is already running low, think carefully before assigning them again, even if their stats fit the call.

Rotate staff whenever possible. The goal is not to finish one spectacular day with everyone drained; it is to keep the department functional across repeated bad days. A rested average officer is often more useful than an excellent one who should be off duty.

5. Keep Problem Officers Away From Critical Work

Some officers drink, skip work, refuse orders, or have conflicts with other staff. That does not mean they are always useless, but it does mean they are risky. Avoid putting unreliable officers into tactical operations, stealth-heavy situations, or calls where one bad decision can injure someone.

If you must use a questionable officer, put a reliable partner nearby and avoid assignments where refusal or poor discipline would collapse the whole plan. Your roster is thin enough without letting avoidable chaos choose the day’s outcome.

6. Buy Gear With Specific Jobs in Mind

Equipment matters in dispatch and turn-based play. Flash bangs, pepper spray, batons, tasers, and other tools are strongest when they support a plan. Do not buy gear only because it sounds useful; think about whether it helps you control suspects, avoid lethal outcomes, protect officers, or handle the calls you are most likely to take.

Manual loadouts are worth the extra attention before dangerous work. If a tactical operation starts and the right non-lethal tool is sitting in storage, the mistake has already happened.

7. Enter TacOps in Stealth Mode Mentally

Many tactical operations are built around patrols, sight lines, noise, and positioning. Start each one slowly. Study the terrain, watch patrol behavior, and decide where officers can move without being seen. The game is much harsher than a normal hit-point tactics game because a single bullet can remove an officer permanently.

When possible, isolate suspects instead of rushing the whole scene. A quiet arrest or stun can keep the operation under control, while a loud mistake can turn the map into a firefight you did not need.

8. Spend Action Points Deliberately

In tactical operations, movement and actions compete for the same limited turn economy. Officers can usually spend only a few action points, and unused points are not something you can count on banking for later. Before moving, decide what the officer must do by the end of the turn: reach cover, get vision, prepare an arrest, pick up a case box, or stay safely hidden.

The worst turn is one that moves an officer into danger without enough remaining action to solve the danger. Stop one tile short if that keeps options open.

9. Plan Box Routes Before Picking Them Up

Case boxes can be awkward because carrying one limits what an officer can do and can stop them from using cover properly. Before you grab a box, identify the route back and decide who will watch the path. If the alarm goes off while the carrier is exposed, the box and the officer can both become liabilities.

Treat box recovery like an escort task. One officer carries, another watches, and everyone else keeps the route from turning into a trap.

10. Use Darkness, Cover, and Patience

The safest tactical plan is often the slowest one. Darkness can help officers stay hidden, cover matters once enemies are alerted, and many operations are not asking you to sprint through a turn limit. If suspects already know you are there, stop chasing and reposition behind cover so they have to come into worse angles.

Patience also protects your roster. A clean arrest after three careful turns is better than a fast firefight that sends two officers to the hospital.

11. Handle Investigations Like Casework, Not Busywork

Investigations sit beside the daily call pressure, so it is tempting to rush them. Slow down. Study materials, connect clues, and think before committing to a suspect. A weak case can waste time and undercut the whole point of detective work.

Keep enough officers and equipment free that investigations do not starve the rest of the department. The game is constantly asking you to balance the urgent call against the case that needs careful attention.

12. Accept Imperfect Days Without Spiraling

This Is the Police 2 is built around messy management. Officers miss work, refuse cooperation, get hurt, and make your schedule worse. Do not reload every imperfect call just because the result stings. Instead, look for the pattern: were you short on rested officers, missing Negotiation, low on non-lethal gear, or too aggressive in a tactical operation?

Improvement comes from preventing repeat failures. One bad outcome is survivable; repeating the same roster mistake is what can bury a run.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not send your best officers to every minor call - Save strong, rested staff for work that can actually punish you.

2. Do not ignore officer energy - A tired officer can turn a normal assignment into an injury, death, or staffing crisis.

3. Do not meet professionalism numbers blindly - Minimum eligibility does not prove the team has the right skills or tools.

4. Do not bring unreliable officers into TacOps - Refusal, poor discipline, or bad teamwork can wreck a stealth plan.

5. Do not treat Negotiation as optional - Some calls are safer when force never becomes necessary.

6. Do not enter tactical missions without checking gear - Non-lethal tools and control items only help if someone brings them.

7. Do not spend action points before choosing an end position - Movement without a safe finish creates avoidable exposure.

8. Do not pick up case boxes without an exit route - Carriers lose flexibility and need protection.

9. Do not chase alerted suspects into bad angles - Fall back to cover and make enemies approach you.

10. Do not rush investigations just to clear the board - Case materials need attention before you commit.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Staffing	Keep rested, reliable officers available for the next crisis
Calls	Match officer stats to the problem the text implies
Energy	Rotate staff before fatigue creates worse losses
Gear	Equip tools for non-lethal control and tactical safety
TacOps	Start slowly, preserve stealth, and avoid unnecessary firefights
Action Points	Move only after deciding the officer’s safe end state
Case Boxes	Plan the route back before carrying boxes
Investigations	Study materials carefully before pushing a suspect