Police Roadblocks

Police Roadblocks are set up on the road in an attempt to block the player in pursuit. They appear at a 3 Star Wanted Level. The Police Roadblocks first appeared in Grand Theft Auto 2 and have featured in every Grand Theft Auto game since, with the exception of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

2D Universe

GTA 1 introduced with only police cars blocking the roads, and the same goes with GTA London '69 and GTA London '61, in GTA 2 it is easier for the player to escape as there are laced gaps between neighboring vehicles, secured only by easy-to-be-rammed-through barriers, that even leave the player's car nearly undamaged.

A RoadBlock in GTA 2

3D Universe

Roadblocks are featured in all of the games in the 3D Universe. In GTA Vice City, GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories, the Police will set up stingers and driving over them will result in bursting the players tires and the player will be unable to drive the car properly. In GTA San Andreas, in the initial cutscene of Puncture Wounds there is a referrence to the police using stingers, but they never actually set them up as a part of a roadblock.

HD Universe

The changes from the previous games to GTA IV are much of the same but the Police will set up roadblocks on bridges (and sometimes on the average road) and Booth Tunnel. They will put concrete block and a vehicle on each side preventing the player to pass through the bridge. This always occurs when the player has not unlocked all of the islands, although only the bridges to Alderney and Algonquin are blocked because the only way to Happiness Island is by helicopter or boat.

A Police Roadblock in Grand Theft Auto IV.

A NOOSE Roadblock in Grand Theft Auto IV. They use Enforcers for this type of Roadblock.

Action Roadblock.JPG

A Roadblock in GTA Chinatown Wars

Police Roadblocks reappear in Grand Theft Auto V, however they are slightly different. Sometimes with a 2 star wanted level, the LSPD will form roadblocks using their Interceptor units. On three wanted stars, Police Roadblocks are a bit different and much more challenging to predict. This is because one will eventually spot one Police Transporter blocking two lanes of the road, with the opposite side being able to easily pass. However, when a Police Transporter is spotted blocking the road, there will always be a Spike Strip after it, causing anyone to pass this "roadblock" to end up with burst tires and a terrible car performance. On stars four and five, NOOSE will deploy Police Riots to block the road. 

A Police Riot can be seen in a roadblock in Grand Theft Auto V.

A Police Transporter blocks some of the road. Remember there will always be a Spike Strip located after the vans!