US Law Enforcement Response, Time, Scale and Coordination (Galveston, TX)

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

If it's not obvious the "I" designation always indicates a road that's part of the Interstate highway system (and funded in that manner). Where the money starts out from decides where the legal authority ends up with.

I-45 isn't unique. I believe I-16 goes only from Savannah to Macon, all within Georgia.

State roads get an "SR" number (at least in Florida and adjoining states).

Very good.

What kind of authorization do the first responders, Galveston PD and/or Galveston County Sheriff, or any other possible LE agency that becomes involved, require to put up a police roadblock on the I-45 within the city of Galveston, in Galveston County?

Assuming that our nefarious NPCs estimate the risk of going through with their foolhardy, ad hoc scheme is less than having their masters come after them for appropriate punishment, I've located the only spot for an ambush where the OpFor can be reasonably certain that the police will drive through with their prisoner. On the corner of Broadway Street and 71st Street, right next to the I-45, as from here, those transporting the prisoner have a choice of two routes. Before that point, the choices mostly boil down to which direction to take on Broadway Street, away from the police station, County Jail and hospital, or toward them.

This means that the spot is almost certainly a possible ambush site, as any alternate route that diverges from Broadway Street earlier than this would be extremely odd, as it would just be adding distance for no benefit. Neither local cops nor ambulance drivers are likely to take a detour from the most efficient route that leads to their destination for no purpose. But Google Maps shows a branching out of possibilities after this corner, with more than one route being logical, depending on personal preference or possibly departmental protocol in re freeways vs. local roads. As the OpFor doesn't have enough information to know for sure which route their targets might choose, it makes it necessary to hit them here or not at all.

Also, this site is practical because the OpFor can fairly easily get to the other side of the freeway, as the 71st Street goes under it and leads conveniently to an on ramp less than a quarter mile away, putting them on the I-45 and headed for freedom. In fact, even driving at legal highway speeds and dealing with average traffic, the OpFor can leave the I-45 on the mainland only six minutes after they secure their package and start their escape and evasion drill.

Of course, while by GURPS rules and even technically in real training exercises (shooting man-sized targets through car windows at 10-30 yards with red-dot sighted Bushmaster XM-15 QRC, Colt LE9620 and DPMS Panther Oracle rifles is not technically hard), the OpFor should be able to shoot 2-4 armed police from ambush and remove one girl in less than a minute of Aim, All-Out Attack, Attack and Move maneuvers (technically, probably 10-15 seconds if everyone moves like hostage rescue operators), the NPC considering this crazy plan realizes that his sicarios are not Delta or HRT.

Service in the Bolivian or Pervian military, in the best case scenario followed by security work for Academi/Xe, Triple Canopy or Aegis LLC, does not produce SOF-quality troops. Even less so does belonging to violent gangs or militant groups, even if someone was hand-picked as an effective enforcer. In any case, while the OpFor sicarios have some experience working together in paramilitary teams, the leader's three best men are not used to working with the the imported shooters. The OpFor leader would be happy to be moving in two minutes after the first shot and fears that four minutes are quite possible (but must be avoided, if they want to succeed).

The negatives to the chosen ambush site are primarily two. 1.3 miles to the Galveston PD police station and ca 350-400 yards to the moored yacht Penemue, filled with PCs and the kind of armed security guards a billionaire with scary enemies employs.

However, assuming that the PCs and their NPC allies decline to fire at anyone 350+ yards away in the dark, when they can't be sure of identifying friend or foe, the most likely point of failure for the OpFor's rescue plan is being stopped on the I-45, before they reach the mainland where there are multiple potential routes and law enforcement will have a hard time blocking them all.

How long will it take for police cars to block the north-bound traffic on the Galveston Causeway?

Who needs to sign off on doing so?