At the Vercetti Estate, Mike and Lance are arguing about a failed bomb detonation at the Tarbrush Café in the North Point Mall. Tommy arrives and Lance explains the situation. Lance wants to abandon the detonation as the police are now surrounding the area but Tommy decides they can detonate the bomb themselves by posing as police officers to get to the mall.
Over at Vice Point, Tommy and Lance ambush two officers and steal their uniforms. The duo head to the mall, where Tommy walks past the police and military presence at the café. Tommy detonates the bomb and the café blows up. This explosion alerts the FBI (thus causing a 5-star wanted level) but Tommy manages to evade them and heads back to the Vercetti Estate with Lance.
Mission Objectives[]
In order to complete the mission the player must:
Get a wanted level so the cops will follow you into the lock-up.
Get two cops to follow you into the garage.
Take a cop car and go and plant the bomb at the Tarbush Coffee Shop in the Mall.
Get back to Vercetti Estate on Starfish Island.
Reward[]
The reward for completing this mission is $10,000 and the mission Cap the Collector is unlocked provided the asset missions for at least five other properties are completed with the Print Works being mandatory. This mission completes the asset strand for the Vercetti Estate, which will now generate a revenue of up to $5,000. The player can also obtain the Cop Outfit from the Washington Beach Police Station.
Transcript[]
Transcript
Lance Vance is seen berating Mike for his failed mission outside Tommy's mansion.
Lance:
You moron! What were you thinking?! Do you realize what this means? We could all be sunk!
Mike:
The timer must have got screwed. That place was wired to go up like a firework factory. Then somebody tipped off the cops...
Mike was supposed to torch some place in the mall, but he screwed the fuses and now the cops are crawling all over it. We gotta get our stuff and get outta here!
Tommy:
Relax, both of you, let me think for a second! Tommy Vercetti just doesn't cut and run.
Tommy thinks of a plan.
Tommy:
The cops are gonna be going over that building with a fine toothed comb, right? But that takes time. We gotta go in and torch that place ourselves.
Mike:
Yeah, but...
Lance:
No one but a cop could get within a mile of that place!
Tommy:
So we go as cops. We gotta get our uniforms and we're gonna need a squad car. All thanks to you, Mike.
Mike:
I'm sorry.
Lance:
I got it! All we gotta do is lure the cops in with the finger, put 'em in a lock-up and jump 'em.
Tommy:
Good plan! Let's go.
Mike:
Alright.
Tommy and Lance head out to cause trouble in the city.
Tommy:
Okay, Lance, let's get the cops' attention!
Tommy and Lance cause trouble and attract police attention.
Lance:
Now that got them really irritated.
Tommy and Lance head to the lock-up in Vice Point and ambush two police officers there. The lock-up doors close.
Tommy:
Tie 'em up and gag 'em!
Lance:
Ooooh, fits perfectly.
Tommy:
Bit tight around the crotch, though...
Lance:
Oh, yeah, yeah, mine too, mine too.
The lock-up doors open back up revealing Tommy and Lance in police uniforms. They find a squad car and head to North Point Mall.
Lance:
Easy, brother, no cop drives this bad!
Tommy and Lance arrive at the mall.
Tommy:
Remember, smile at the other cops!
Lance:
Hey there, officer. Nice badge, nice badge.
Tommy:
Real smooth, Lance...
Tommy and Lance go inside the mall and find the Tarbrush Café guarded by armymen. Tommy heads inside and arms the bomb.
Tommy:
Okay, timers are set, 5 seconds and ticking.
Lance:
5 seconds?! We gotta get the hell outta here!
Tommy and Lance escape the café as the bomb explodes. They hurry back to Tommy's mansion at Starfish Island as they're being chased by the police and FBI. Tommy and Lance go inside to change back into normal clothes.
Post-Mission Phone Call[]
Lance Vance: Tommy, it's me, Lance. Keep your mouth shut there Tommy, 'cause I ain't got time to talk. I ain't interested in what you got to say. Why should I be? You don't care about me, do you? You gotta look after me a bit better. Give me a fair slice, you know... Tommy, man. Look I'm... I'm sorry. It's just that... People patronize me all my life, treat me like a little kid. My brother would do that. Please man, don't do that. I gotta go.
If the player completes Two Bit Hit before this mission, the Havana Outfit will be put behind an invisible wall and will become unobtainable. To avoid this, Cop Land, No Escape? and The Job missions should be completed before Two Bit Hit. This was patched on the Mac version and the mobile ports of the game.
In The Definitive Edition by Netflix, once Tommy and Lance lure the cops into the lock-up, the door stays open, as all assets and characters disappear for a few seconds and appear back with Tommy and Lance dressed in police uniforms. Lance will revert to his original PS2 character model while wearing the police uniform.
This was intentionally referenced by the developers as the gun's textures are labeled as "gun_shotgun_tubbs" in the game files.
No matter what clothes Tommy is wearing when the mission is triggered, he will be wearing the Street Outfit in the initial cutscene.
If Tommy and Lance are still inside the coffee store when it explodes, they will safely respawn outside of it when gameplay resumes.
The name of the mission is likely a nod towards the 1997 Sylvester Stallone film Cop Land, which starred Ray Liotta, the actor who voiced Tommy Vercetti.
If the player enters the mall before trapping two cops in the Loading Bay garage and getting the Cop Outfit, they will receive a five star wanted level and the two soldiers will start shooting at Tommy.
Mike's lips do not move during the opening cutscene.
This was fixed in the Definitive Edition.
Even though Mike is seen following Tommy and Lance at the end of the cutscene, he does not appear in the mission.
During the short cutscene at the end, when heading back to the mansion with the police uniform, Tommy uses the running animation of cops and some pedestrians. When he exits it with his default clothing, he reverts to his usual running animation.
In the original version, there are four unused audio files in the game data, implying that the bomb was supposed to be detonated in 10 and 15 seconds respectively.