Wanted Level in GTA 1

Whilst cities in Grand Theft Auto 1, Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969 and Grand Theft Auto: London, 1961 have other emergency services, as a criminal the player is more likely to notice the local cops, especially after committing various crimes. Their degree of hostility towards the player is determined by the player's wanted level, which is considerably rudimentary when originally conceived.

Description
The police's aim is in general to arrest the player, although they will not hesitate in shooting or trying to ram them off the road in the desperate attempt to stop the player, and they get more trigger happy the higher the wanted level. On arrest, the player is dropped off at the nearest police station, losing all weapons and armor and half of the score multiplier, but the wanted level is reset back to zero.

Normally, any crime committed (including hit-and-run, firearms discharge, collisions with vehicles, vehicle theft, etc.) will eventually lead to the player attaining a wanted level, regardless of whether or not a police officer is on the scene; on occasions, police chatter can be heard following a crime the player commits. If the player breaks a law within earshot of a passing police officer or a moving police car, they will instantaneously receive a wanted level. The more crimes the player commits, the higher the rating goes. Also, sometimes the player automatically gets noticed, if a mission leads to someone calling the police, or in the case of bank robberies that not surprisingly put the police on full alert.

Wanted levels
The player's wanted level, which reflects how much attention the police give them, is simply illustrated by one or more police heads on top of the screen (in GTA 1, the police heads are those of generalized American cops, while those in GTA London are distinguishable by their signature custodian helmets); the heads bob in an up-and-down motion the player is in sight of one or more police officers, but remain stationary when the player evades the police. This feature was carried over to Grand Theft Auto 2.

At the start of the game, the player has no wanted level and the player is ignored, but when the player commits a serious crime, the police give the player more attention, and the wanted level increases, up to a maximum of four police heads. At wanted level one, the police tend only to give chase if they are in the area anyway (unlike GTA 2 and its successors, even a single wanted level will not disperse on its own), whereas at four, the police set up roadblocks on major roads, shoot on sight, and send everyone available to the player's location.

Evasion
There are only two ways the player can evade the police.

Dotted around each city are a number of respray shops (if one of the cities are large for inexperienced players, then finding it will be difficult), where the player's vehicle can be resprayed, or have the license plates changed, to disguise it. This makes the police think the player is someone else, even if they see the player enter the shop, although this does cost money (i.e. points). The higher a player's wanted level, the more points it costs to have a car re-sprayed or plates changed.

An alternate method is simply to locate and acquire a cop bribe, which can be found in specific breakable crate in any city. Although the pickup is cost-free, its rarity makes this approach equally difficult. Another similar pickup, the "Get Outta Jail Free Card", allows the player to avoid the pitfalls of being arrested by having the player retain their weapons, armor and multiplier as of the time they were arrested.

Trivia

 * The imagery of the police heads' bobbing motion when the player is in sight of police officers seemingly references the term "bobbies", a British slang for police officers.