I guess the issue is that, now that there are more cops ingame, its time to balance the two groups out again. The buffs that cops got prior to all these new incentives to play as police, are no longer fitting since the number of cops has increased
Just my 2 cents as somebody who got active only recently. One big reason i went inactive years ago was because the server was always the same (at least the way i was playing), where SR and BR would be the main activities. It just got boring. Ever since i came back, its been going downhill from that old point. Since i run a relatively new gang, i have been dealing with a lot of new players. A fair amount of them, when i meet them, they have just few hours of playtime. We get together start playing together, chatting on Discord. They tell me, that this server is pretty nice and its fun, that they are gonna stay around, but eventually, after a few days their activity just falls off. I think its in large part because this server is just kinda boring. Sometimes they even say it straight. Some leave for other MTA servers. Its just sad. I know some of the community causally since 2014 so i have sentimental ties here, but new players dont.
If you are running SR for most of the day, only to do some BRs during the evening BR wave, its doable. But now with the BRs fucked up, and the cop buffs (im actually not against this, i wana see cops grow), the crim side has failed most of the SRs and VIPs i have attended, and hardly any BRs have happened. Jikes
Good luck. We need good cops, and i hope you use the previous TST as an example, and not the current squads.
Im writing this without reading other comments, so i may have forgotten to add some good points others have written, but its not so important anyways in that case.
I started out as a cop. That was back in 2014. Yes there were more criminals than cops even back then but it was way more balanced. I for one fell in love with the balance of RP and casual gameplay elements on this server in general. Back in 2013 squads used to do a lot more RPs. For example cops would give warnings before shooting cars, etc.
When i found out about SAPA and that there was a way to stand out from other noob cops and gain respect by getting ProCop diploma (PC) i was dedicated to that task right away. The amount of work you had to put in to getting it was in the end satisfying for the reward: people gave you respect. They knew that as a PC you wouldnt arrest without RP, and crims were much more relaxed and wouldnt DM as much around you. Eventually i did break a rule in PC for, i think it was not doing RP. Well its a long story if i was gonna go into details, and i have forgotten most of it anyways, but i felt like i was unfairly punished by being removed from PC and i slowly turned criminal. This was around time i also lost interest in playing SAES in general and went on/off inactive for many years.
During my time as PC i attempted to create two police squads, SASS and SABS. Didnt work out in general due to my lack of knowledge of the effort and management skills required. Failed because of shitty HQ members. I think later on i joined FBI or TST or something, dont quite remember. Then as i mentioned earlier i went inactive.
I think the reason why i eventually left cops is because i got bored of the skill-based gameplay. Playing as a cop was always all or nothing game. You either arrest the criminals or you get nothing. Criminals would always bunch up together and help eachother and they would always get rewards without needing much effort. Arresting takes effort but standing in a SR circle and waiting doesnt. You essentially get the same amount of money.
I think this is what it came down to for me. As im writing this this notion is being affirmed in my mind. It was much easier to earn money as a criminal. You go somewhere, stand and wait, and get money. You also had a good comradery, as criminals would work together to help eachother, as it was in their best interests to kill the cops. As a cop most of what you did came down to arresting and being quick and skilled enough to take shots, avoid criminals and hope the baton hits register, as sometimes you would arrest with 1 hit, and other times you would hit like 5 times and still wouldnt arrest. This was frustrating for me. I saw how chill you could play this game as a criminal and it was what i was looking for.
Solution:
I think this is true to this day. Im not entirely sure what new money earning ways cops have nowadays, but for the most part, i still see even skilled squad members mostly getting lucky on arrests and using different techniques, either by ramming a plane into SR or jumping with bikes on the SR roof and hoping for the best.
I think cops should also get a more passive way to earn. Maybe a way that cops can wait in circle, and criminals have to do the skill-based effort. I know there are a lot of players that want a challange, and i agree, it can be fun, but not always. If you only rely on arresting criminals for money, you not only increase the rivalry between cops but also make it not so fun to play if you just want to relax and earn money.
Note: I havent played as a cop since i quit, so my opinions about current situation are based on my experience with playing as a cop in the past, and my encounters with cops as a criminal.
TLDR:
After reading some other comments:
Gl guys have fun. Hope you get lvl 5
Great! Finally the server getting new gameplay elements. Lets hope its balanced for both sides.
yessss