List of police-related slang terms

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Many slang terms, often considered offensive, exist for police officers. These terms are rarely used by the police themselves and instead are used by criminals, prisoners or by the general public.

Police services also have their own internal slang and jargon; some of it relatively widespread geographically and some very localized.

B

Babylon 

Jamaican, establishment systems, often applied to the police. Also used in Black English outside of Jamaica . Derived from the Rastafari movement which, in turn, relies upon a Babylon (New Testament) interpretation symbolising debauchery, corruption and evil-doing in general. The term was used as the title of the 2014 British police drama Babylon.

Bacon 

see Pig Utilized interchangeably with the term "Pig/Pigs" and is often derogatory. Can refer to a single officer or any number of multiple officers.

Bears 

A slang term for the police.

Bill 

Also Old Bill. The Bill is the title of a television police series in the UK, based in a fictional London borough.

Bobby 

UK, derived from the Conservative British Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel (Bobby being a nickname for Robert) the founder of the Metropolitan Police. Occurs in fixed phrases e.g. "bobby on the beat", "village bobby"

Boys in blue 

in reference to the blue uniform.

Bronze 

slang term for the police

Bull 

A slang term for railroad police in the US, most prevalent in the first half of the 20th century.

Bulle 

(German for "the bull"). German slang for police officer, often derogatory. Plural "Bullen" refers to the police and "Bullerei" for police station

Byling 

Old Swedish slang for patrolling officers. The word means peeler in Swedish and it is rarely used nowadays.

C

Candy cars

Slang term for Police cars in the UK due to the livery being yellow and green

Cherry Toppers, Cherry Tops, or Cherries 

Often used in reference to police cars which in some nations bear red lights on the top of the car. See Cherry top (slang).

Chimps 

UK slang term for Community Support Officers, Acronym for Completely Hopeless In Most Policing Situations

Cop Shop 

UK and Australia (and other Commonwealth English) slang for police station. Cop Shop was a long running Australian television series.

Cop or Copper 

The term Copper was the original, unshortened word, originally used in Britain to mean "someone who captures". (In British English the term Cop is recorded (Shorter Oxford Dictionary) in the sense of 'To Capture' from 1704, derived from the Latin 'Capere' via the Old French 'Caper'). The common myth is that it's a term referring to the police officer's buttons which are made of copper.

Cop derives from a Gaelic word which has the equivalence of saying, protector, leader, or chief. The terms are almost nearly homophonic but have similar meanings.

County Mountie

Used specifically in reference to county police officers or county sheriff's deputies in the United States.

D

Dibble

Slang from the character in "Top Cat", "Dibble" has been adopted as an English-language derogatory slang term for police officer.

Dicks

Slang for detectives. Apparently originally coined in Canada and brought south by rumrunners during Prohibition. The fictional comic strip character Dick Tracy was given the first name of "Dick" in token of its being a slang expression for "detective".

Donut Patrol 

slang referring to unhealthy police officers in the United States

F

Feds 

Usually used in the United States to refer to federal law enforcement agencies, especially the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Marshals Service.

Federales 

Spanish, the Mexican Federal Police. The term gained widespread usage by English-speakers due to its popularization in films. The term is a cognate and counterpart to the slang "Feds" in the United States.

Feo 

A term which indicates a law enforcement officer approaching the vicinity of the speaker. Taken from the Spanish word for "ugly", this slang term is exclusively used by the Puerto Rican and Dominican communities of Philadelphia and (to a lesser extent) New York City, United States.

Filth 

Normally "The Filth", UK, the police. Inspiration for the Irvine Welsh novel Filth Also common in Australia and New Zealand, as with many other originally British police-related terms (especially given Australia's origins as a Commonwealth Nation with strong British influences, notably in law and policing origins).

Five-O

Derived from the name of the television series Hawaii Five-O, this term is occasionally used in East Coast America and the UK. Is sometimes shouted out as a warning by lookouts or others engaged in illegal activity when a police officer is spotted. Popularized by the series The Wire.

Flatfoot 

A term with uncertain origins. Possibly related to the large amount of walking that a police officer would do; at a time when the condition flat feet became common knowledge, it was assumed that excessive walking was a major cause. Another possible origin is the army's rejection of men with flat-feet, who would often take jobs in law enforcement as a back-up, particularly during war when established police officers would often join up (or be forced to). What is known is that by 1912, flat-footed was an insult among American Baseball players, used against players not "on their toes." This may have been applied to police officers sometime later, for similar reasons.

Flic

A French word for police (singular "un flic", but more commonly used in the plural "les flics"), best translated as "cop". Much like "cop," this term is not derogatory.

Fuzz 

First appeared in the 1920s, corruption of "force" (see above). The term was used in the title of Hot Fuzz, a 2007 police-comedy film.

G

Grass 

Cockney (English) for a police informant: Grasshopper = Copper. Alternative suggestions are from "Narc in the Park", or the song "Whispering Grass".

Gumshoe 

US, derogatory, slang for detectives, who are ostensibly wearing soft-heeled shoes or Hush Puppy shoes so they can follow suspects without being noticed.

H

Hun 

Slang term for the police heard in the film Biggles adventures in time

J

Jam sandwich

or Jam Butty UK, police traffic car, from the now largely obsolete historical colour-scheme – an overall white vehicle, with a longitudinal red, or red and yellow, stripe on each side. Still used for the metropolitan police in London. Silver cars with a red stripe down the side.

K

Karao

Used in Kenya to refer to police; Seen as derogatory, source is the sheng language (mashup of English and Kiswahili)

Keuf 

French word, used in the plural "les keufs", as slang for the police. This word is more derogatory than "les flics", even though it means the same thing. The word is derived from the pronunciation of "flic" as "FLEE-KUH".In verlan slang, words are often reversed, thus making the word "kuhflee". In turn, "flee" was dropped from the word, leaving "keuf".

Kollegen mat den Rallysträifen

Luxembourgish, literally "colleagues / fellows with the rallye stripes". A reference to police officers with their police cars, which have in Luxembourg three stripes on the bonnet and on each side of the car, representing the national colours (red, white, light blue). Due to the fact that the police cars are white as well als the colour of the central stripe, it seems like they only have two stripes on it, like rally cars. It has a more or less humorous character.

Kosmonavt

Russian, referring to OMON policeman equipped with riot gear (literally "cosmonaut").

L

Law or The Law 

Probably an abbreviation of the phrase "The long arm of the law" (suggesting that no matter how far they run, all criminals are eventually caught and prosecuted successfully).

Legawye (pl)

Russian Легавые sg Легавый. Literally "gundog", "pointer". This was logo of Moscow Investigation Department in 1928.

M

Man, The  

Derogatory. Police officer or other Government agent who has control, either by force or circumstance. Widely used in United States, especially among African Americans and prisoners. popular during the 1960s and 1970s by antiestablishment groups.

Mabándo 

1. A term used to imply the presence of law enforcement officers in a particular area. Most commonly used by the Dominican and Puerto Rican communities of Philadelphia.

Maréchaussée 

The police force that preceded the Gendarmerie as the law enforcement agency in rural France. The Marechaussee was under the control of the Marechal (eng: Marshal) de France, hence the name. In the Netherlands, the koninklijke marechaussee remains the military police force with civilian powers similar to the French Gendarmerie. The gendarmerie was established after the French revolution. French slang, mostly used in rural areas and aimed to the gendarmes.

Mr. Plod, P.C. Plod or Plodder 

UK, slang, literary, (also used in Australia) from the Noddy books by Enid Blyton, in which Mr. Plod was the village policeman.

Mounties 

Canada, colloquial, Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

N

Narc or Nark 

1. A term used for an informant. 2. An undercover narcotics agent.

Nick 

a Police station (British slang).

Nicked 

To be arrested (British slang).

O

Old Bill 

A term in use in London among other areas, inspiring the television series The Bill. The origin of this nickname is obscure; according to the Metropolitan Police themselves, there are at least 13 different explanations. However, the word is quite old fashioned and is used much less nowadays, especially by younger people.

One Time 

A term used in many English speaking countries, used because you look at the police one time, so not to attract attention.

Occifer 

A slang used mainly in rural Alberta, Canada, to satirically reference the title of a Police Officer that one naturally assumes while intoxicated.

P

Paco 

A derogatory Chilean term for Carabineros, the national police force of Chile. In Costa Rica, a familiar term for police, loosely derogatory. The term comes from the nickname "Paco" given to Francisco Calderón, a Security Minister in the 1940s.

Paddy Wagon 

A police van.

Panda Car 

UK, a police car. Named because they were originally painted with large panels of black and white, or blue (usually light blue) and white. First started by the Lancashire Constabulary in the 1960s.

Pasma

Derogatory term used in Spain to refer to the Police in general.

Peeler, Peelers 

UK, slang, archaic,including Northern Ireland, from Sir Robert Peel (see "Bobby").

Perp 

Meaning perpetrator/criminal instigator.

Pig 

This derogatory term was frequently used during the 19th century, disappeared for a while, but reappeared during the 20th and 21st century. It became frequently used again during the 1960s and 1970s in the underground and anti-establishment culture. Now prevalent in many English-speaking countries. It is also used in anti-authoritarian punk and hip-hop circles. Oz magazine showed a picture of a pig dressed as a policeman on a front cover and the term inspired "pig cops" in the game Duke Nukem 3D.

Plod 

An allusion to Mr Plod the Policeman in Enid Blyton's Noddy stories for children, to plod meaning to walk doggedly and slowly with heavy steps. Also known as "PC Plod".

Po-po, Popo, Popos, PoPo 

A street term for police. Originally from Southern California Asian gangs, now nationwide and thought to be of African-American derivation. Popo is also "grandmother" in Chinese American slang.

Polis (pronounced pole-is) 

Scottish slang for police, commonly used in Glasgow.

R

Rati

Argentinean slang term for police officers derived from "rata" (rat). Also derived from vesre pronunciation of tira, since older police uniforms would feature a leather strap across the officer's chest.

Rollers

U.S., Black slang for police officers widely used on the East and West coasts during the early 1970s.

Roussin 

French In the 18th century undercover detective in high society were dressed in reddish (roussâtre) long jacket.

Rozzers 

From "Robert", after Sir Robert Peel (1788–1850), commonly considered the father of modern policing, and who established the Metropolitan Police Force in London (1829).

T

The Thin Blue Line

The role of the police in being the barrier between civilized society and chaos, inspiring a UK sitcom and two documentaries of the same name.

Town Clown 

Town or city police officers, contrasted with county or state police. Usually considered derogatory.

V

Vics 

US Slang term for the police in the 90s and 2000s referring to the Ford Crown Victoria

External links

• Metropolitan Police – Origins of the name "Old Bill".
• Law Enforcement Terms & Abbreviations (US).
• Law Enforcement Submitted Cop Slang – POLICE Magazine (US).