Official is outdated and lacking in features compared to fan-maintained (AKA Github), but easy to install and comes with an Exe. Terra Vitae mod is worth checking out since it's the only active LCS thing that has active development, but it is simultaneously updated (Lots of new stuff) and outdated (Doesn't have the "Vehicle Dodge" mechanic that Github LCS has) at the same time.
Github has more stuff like Augmentations, multiple save files, car chases being actually survivable if you fight it out or can't escape (Driving skill now allows you to perform Dodge in car chases, which you'll need because of how outnumbered you are during a chase), nerfs to the "shoot up a police station and never get raided" strategy (You'll get raided no matter what, even if the police station shuts down. This is actually a negative, since reorganizing after a siege is way too tedious), and so on.
Make sure to read up on the LCS Wiki. It's a bit outdated, but the info in there is still usable. If you're going violent, make sure to always have a six-man squad (Conservatives randomly come in pairs of six during encounters, and your Liberals only attack once per turn.), use rifles (Assault Rifles are KING in LCS. They slaughter armored conservatives like cops and soldiers just as easily as unarmored conservatives, and usually one-hit kill or cripple. Plus, if you can easily kill soldiers in one turn, you can farm assault rifle ammo), and have a good driver (Car chases are hard to survive due to either the driver crashing and killing everyone, or the driver failing to get away and everyone getting shot up by FOUR cars filled with SIX conservatives. That's 24 people shooting you at once, and there is no Vehicle Dodge unless you play Github.)
If you're going pacifist, try to avoid violence. You'll still probably commit crimes like hacking (which was nerfed to give more heat for some reason) and vandalism, but you won't get the death penalty or sixty-plus life sentences if you get caught (which my violent mass-shooter Liberals often get). With 10 in Music and a guitar, you can stun conservatives with music and eventually convert them into Liberals.
No matter what your strategy is, violent or nonviolent, kidnapping + interrogating is very overpowered and ignores recruitment limits, especially with a high Psychology "Good cop" and several "Bad cops". Beat the conservative to their minimum wisdom before having the Good Cop come in. (Average joes go as low as 1, dangerous conservatives like CCS Agents, CEOs, Soldiers, etc always have a minimum wisdom of 7 and don't go any lower IIRC). You'll attract heat this way if you take too long and the kidnapping gets on the news, though, so switch safehouses when the heat gets high and do community service for a while until it dies down. Buy American flags to be patriotic AND to give a bonus to how secret your base is, too.