Proportionality to federal events is pretty retarded IMO. If you do a federal event you should expect to fight mass cops. It was the same shit back in 2018 and even older. People didn't cry about the APD numbers. A federal event is not meant to be done by a handful of civs. Cops should not have to "reduce" their numbers fighting the feds just because you have only a few people.
The only question of "proportionality" that I can agree with is the excessive use of something such as armor waves. As far as numbers go for cops on responding, proportionality should not be accounted for.
APD has a shit mentality. The majority of them dread any federal events which IMO is retarded... I might be dogshit but I still enjoy fighting feds even with only having a taser ;(. I can understand it at feds when the civs are using all BW gear to combat it, that can be aids, but the game is the game.
When civs do feds against ~5 cops or close to the minimum required at that federal event, the cops are basically guaranteed to lose. This is because the APD have no interest in participating in feds nowadays. Back in the day people would mass join if a fed alert went off, now no one besides a handful of people will join to fight them.
The APD also has horrible leadership at federal events. The majority of the federal events I've participated in the Sr. APD are quiet and don't strategize. There are only a few that actually will like @ Caden . The retired Sr. APD members strategize better than current ones. Some of the best Sr.'s to compete against federal events like ChrisGG would strategize and would say "if you don't go gate 4 your being demoted/removed for insubordination" and crazy concept ALL THE COPS DID IT, and feds would be won.
Both sides will bitch and complain. I just dk why the people with the most money on the server, most experience, the same broken gang base that they abuse against the APD, etc. are the people that cry the most. You cause the most cancer at federal events with zafirs, armor stack, etc. and then cry when a fed doesn't go your way.