Visual Probable Cause

VPC allows you to detect items inside a vehicle before you ever initiate a physical search. This gives you the opportunity to spot contraband or weapons in plain view, providing a lead that will almost always result in a positive find once the vehicle is searched. By reading your VehicleItems.xml and scanning for customizable keywords, plain view observations can be made. This will also provide Non-Item Observations, such as seatbelt and phone violations as well as normal behavior. This is an evolution of my earlier Project Plain View. Whether you are patrolling the high-end streets of Rockford Hills or the dirt roads of Blaine County, VPC ensures that your probable cause is rooted in traditional police work: observation.

DEMO - CLICK HERE FOR A YOUTUBE VIDEO - DEMO

Visual Probable Cause (VPC) transforms your traffic stops and roadside interactions by turning your eyes into your most essential piece of equipment. Instead of relying on guesswork, you find the evidence yourself through direct observation. This modification is designed for those moments when you step out of your cruiser—whether you are walking up to a pulled-over vehicle, patrolling a parking lot, or managing a security checkpoint. It requires you to be on the ground, engaging with the world face-to-face.

INSTALLATION & CONFIGURATION:

1. Place VisualProbableCause.dll and VisualProbableCause.ini into Plugins/LSPDFR/.

2. (Optional/Recommended) Replace VehicleSearchItems.xml in Plugins/LSPDFR/StopThePed/ with the included version to enable the 6,300+ item expansion and false-positive logic.

It is highly recommended that you review the .ini before loading the modification for the first time.

I. The Art of the Plain View Observation

This modification works by looking for physical items and behaviors within a vehicle’s cabin while you are on foot. If something is sitting on the dashboard or tucked under a seat, and you have a clear line of sight, you may receive a notification of what you've spotted.

• Organic Discovery: Observations happen naturally based on your distance to the vehicle, your walking speed, and your line of sight.
  

• Smart Discrimination: While the behavioral system excludes emergency vehicles, industrial equipment, and aircraft, it intelligently discriminates between motorcycles and passenger vehicles. You can also exclude any specific models you choose via the configuration.
  

• Customizable Velocity Logic: Realistically, you won't be able to spot a pill bottle in a car flying past you. VPC prioritizes vehicles that are stationary or moving at slow speeds near your walking path, though the exact speed threshold can be calibrated in your settings.

II. Observation Categories

VPC recognizes a wide array of items and situations, divided into different categories based on customizable keywords:

• 🟠 [WEAPON] Tactical Threats: Spotting the grip of a pistol or a holster wedged between the seats.
  

• 🟡 [CONTRABAND] Narcotics: Seeing baggies, scales, or suspicious white powder on the floorboards.
  

• 🔵 [ALCOHOL] Open Containers: Identifying open bottles or cans in cup holders.
  

• 🟣 [STOLEN] Suspected Property: Seeing high-value items or electronics that appear out of place.
  

• 🔘 [TOOLS] Criminal Implements: Spotting slim-jims, pry bars, or masks used in the commission of crimes.
  

• ⚪ [NIOS] Behavioral & Environment: Observations of the driver's movements—like reaching for a belt—or the vehicle's state, such as a taped-on mirror, fast food wrappers, or a jersey draped over the passenger seat.
  

The entire notification engine utilizes 37 unique observation prefixes combined with over 1,700 individual narrative strings across all categories and vehicles, creating more than 62,900 possible combinations to ensure no two observations feel the same.

III. Human Error: Officers Make Mistakes

In the real world, things aren't always what they seem at first glance, and VPC reflects this reality. The included VehicleItems.xml is packed with over 6,300 items, a few of which are designed to be false positives.

You might spot what looks like a handgun from the sidewalk, only to realize during a search that it is an antique or a toy. You might see an open container on a center console that turns out to be root beer. Additionally, your focus may not always land on the most dangerous item; sometimes you will pick up on an open alcohol container but miss a gun entirely.

Don't feel bad if you see something that isn't there or if you miss a threat. These red herrings and oversights are intentional; they test your judgment and remind you that a plain view observation is a lead, not always a conviction.

IV. Intelligent Item Injection

VPC is designed to work alongside other popular mods like Stop The Ped. However, VPC goes a step further by seeding items into vehicles that are parked or simply driving around—cars you have not even pulled over yet.

• Universal XML Support: While a massive VehicleItems.xml is included, VPC is flexible. It can read from any standard VehicleItems.xml you already have installed.
  

• The White Text Detail: You may notice that some items found by this mod appear as white text in your search menus, while other mods might use colored text. This is a technical marker indicating the item was placed by the VPC background logic. These items are fully functional and will correctly trigger notifications and charges.
  

• Total Control: If you prefer to let other mods handle all vehicle contents, you can disable the injection logic in the .ini. VPC will then simply read whatever items are already there.

V. Stop the Ped Only, no PR--- I tried.

Unfortunately, after speaking with the maker of Policing Redefined, in the current version at least, the way his code seeds items into inventory won't cooperate. Basically, his mod seeds them upon interaction with the vehicle, where VPC and STP seed it before, allowing this mod to read the data before searching. I tried very hard. The outcome resulted in items only being found on the driver side, regardless of where they are. So I could put it out but, eh. I didn't enjoy playing with VPC and PR so I didn't think anyone really else would either.

Looking forward to future releases of PR to reevaluate this.