How the police find you in GTA 6: witnesses, leads, descriptions, trackers and dogs, explained

The police in GTA 6 do not know you did it until someone tells them. That is the whole system in one sentence, and everything below hangs off it. This guide collects what Rockstar showed in August's Extended Look and what Edge saw in play this week, with each fact labelled.

1. Nothing happens without a witness

Confirmed (Rockstar). Stars only light when the crime is seen: a bystander with a phone, a shop alarm, a camera, a patrol driving past. Rob Nelson's words were that the system "requires that someone witness the crime." Smash a window on an empty road and the meter stays dark.

Reported (Edge). Security camera footage counts as an identifier. Rob a shop under a camera and the police have a picture of you even if nobody was in the aisle.

2. The police work from a description

Confirmed (Rockstar). Four icons sit beside the stars and show what the police have on you: your vehicle, your clothes, your face, and your partner, meaning whether Jason and Lucia are seen together. Each lit icon is something they can match. Each one you remove goes dark.

Reported (Edge). The description also includes weapons and a physical description. Carrying a shotgun on your back is part of how you look.

3. Breaking each lead

Confirmed and reported. This is the practical part.

• Vehicle: swap cars. Edge adds that some cars, especially expensive ones, carry a tracker that tells the police where the car is, so swapping into the wrong car does not help.
• Clothes: a complete change of outfit. Half a change is not enough. Ruby's advice on dressing for a job is to wear the loud piece on top and lose it after.
• Partner: split up. Two people together are one description; two people apart are two strangers. Switch to the other lead a few seconds after you separate.
• Weapon: drop it, Edge reports.
• Face: not confirmed. Masks and disguises are a reasonable guess; Rockstar has not shown them working.

4. White stars, red stars

Community reading (not confirmed by Rockstar). Break line of sight and the stars go from white to red: the police are searching rather than chasing. Kill the leads while red, leave the area, and the stars fade. Get spotted with leads still lit and they go white again. Rockstar has not spelled out the exact rule, but the footage is consistent with it.

5. What a chase looks like

Reported (Edge). In Edge's 90-minute session, a spike strip burst a motorbike tyre during a getaway, and a K9 German shepherd caught and pinned Jason. Edge also says the game leaves room to back off before things escalate: a confrontation does not always become a chase.

Confirmed (Rockstar). Up to three stars have been shown: a patrol car or two at one, more units and the leads filling in at two, roadblocks and sustained pursuit at three, where Nelson's advice was to leave the car and go on foot through alleys. Stars four to six have not been shown.

6. Planning a job around it

Our guess, built on the above. Case the camera positions. Plant your own car so the vehicle lead starts clean and there is no tracker. Arrive apart, leave apart. Wear something forgettable with a change in the boot. Rolo's getaway car guide covers the vehicle half; the Criminal Profile tracks how you did it, and unlike the stars, it never resets.

What is still unknown

Stars four to six. How masks work. Whether tattoos count. What the police do with footage after you escape. We will update this page and the wanted level wiki as Rockstar shows more.

The full wanted level guide