RANT about COPS

[medaid]

Okay..... here is my rant on the word COP or COPS.

I find this term insulting. Derogatory and disrespectful.

To me police officers are either MEMBERS or Police Officers. I do not call them COPS or COP. I have not done so for quite some time now. I have done so prior to being told that members dislike such a term, and have personally been addressed as such by wankers, I have also realized that I despised that term. Like I said it is RUDE, and I consider it derogatory, it's almost like calling a Sergeant "sarge" Now, I'm not slanting our Southern Neighbours, but I have yet to meet a Sergeant in the CF who liked that term, or like to be addressed as such. So... I think I should raise the awareness and inform the fine people on this forum that the majority of members whether they be Federal, Provincial or Municipal do NOT like to be addressed as such.

PLEASE... PLEASE refrain from doing so in the future? Pretty please?

 

[aesop081]

for those who grew up in the 80s

COPS........Central Organization of Police Specialists

 

[muskrat89]

Like I said it is RUDE, and I consider it derogatory, it's almost like calling a Sergeant "sarge" Now, I'm not slanting our Southern Neighbours, but I have yet to meet a Sergeant in the CF who liked that term, or like to be addressed as such.

I had an RSS Captain one time who seemed to think it cool to call me "Sarge". He stopped when I started referring to him as "Cap"

 

[I_Drive_Planes]

Cop stand for Constable On Patrol.  I don't feel that's rude at all.

Plnes

 

[p_imbeault]

Where does the word come from anyway? I once heard it was an acronym for Constable on Patrol? I've meet a couple officers who didn't mind the term, but I'd definitely never refer to any LEO as a cop out of respect.

 

[p_imbeault]

Thanks for verifying IDP

 

[garb811]

At the end of the day, a nickname is derogatory and demeaning only if you let it affect you in that way.  People call me a meathead, cop, pig, whatever, 90% of the time they don't mean it in a good way but I sure don't lose any sleep over it...

 

[medaid]

At the end of the day, a nickname is derogatory and demeaning only if you let it affect you in that way.  People call me a meathead, cop, pig, whatever, 90% of the time they don't mean it in a good way but I sure don't lose any sleep over it...

True, but it does tend to fuel other people's misconceptions on how this is appropriate behaviour.

 

[dapaterson]

At the end of the day, a nickname is derogatory and demeaning only if you let it affect you in that way.  People call me a meathead, cop, pig, whatever, 90% of the time they don't mean it in a good way but I sure don't lose any sleep over it...

Don't forget the adjectives - coffee-slurping, donut-munching  >

 

[GAP]

It may have meant "Constable on Patrol" at one time, then went the derogatory route, mainly through Hollywood and TV, but today, it is such a part of the lexicon, it has no other meaning, in everyday use, than police....period.

 

[kkwd]

Here is some info from Straight Dope on the origin of Cop, Fuzz and Pig.
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcop.html

 

[Fishbone Jones]

http://www.wisegeek.com/why-are-police-officers-called-cops.htm

Police officers are often referred to as cops, but the word origins of cop are something of a debate. It is known that up until the 1970s, cop was something of a slang term, and one would refer to cops more properly as policemen, or police officers. Some argue that the term cop is shortened from "copper" and derives from the tin or copper badges worn by a policeman. Others say cop is an abbreviation for constabulary of police.

General consensus on the word origins of cop however suggest that the term is based more on the policeman’s job than on his clothing or job title. In Latin the verb capere can be defined as “to capture.” In French, the verb is caper. “To cop” in English is to seize or to take. This defines some of what a police officer does. He or she seizes or takes crooks or stops their crime “capers.”

Some also believe that the Dutch word kapen, which also loosely translates to “to steal or take,” is related to policemen being called coppers or cops. Essentially the police force was there to take criminals off the streets. Since the Latin, Dutch and French terms are all similar, and since American English especially derives language from German, French and Latin, the specific language origin of kapen or capere creates a ready path to coppers or cops.

While it is appropriate to call members of the police force cops, and it is no longer considered derogatory, certain other terms for police officers are definitely insulting and unwelcome. While British Police might not mind being called bobbies, no police members like to be referred to as pigs or the “fuzz.” Some don’t mind the term the “heat” as applied to the whole police force. However, the police force does not generally take kindly to terms given to them by criminals.

The term, cops, is in such common usage now, however, that a show documenting police officers on the job is called Cops. Thus even though J. Edgar Hoover once highly objected to the term, cops, it is now fine to refer to a policeman or a police woman as a cop. However, the term police officer is generally most correct, since it is not gender based, and is slightly less familiar.

Why not wait for zipperhead cop to wade in?

 

[geo]

At the end of the day, a nickname is derogatory and demeaning only if you let it affect you in that way.  People call me a meathead, cop, pig, whatever, 90% of the time they don't mean it in a good way but I sure don't lose any sleep over it...

I am positive you smile and wish em a nice day..... as you hand them a ticket for big $$$ + demerits

 

[Private Parts]

Here's what Snopes has to say:

"Cop" as a slang term for "police officer" is neither a shortening of "constable on patrol" nor of "citizen on patrol." We've said it before, but it bears saying again: only a few common words truly have acronymic pedigrees, and virtually all of those date from the 20th century and later. Though terms that have been part of the English language for centuries may well have fascinating backstories (and many do), they rarely began their linguistic lives as acronyms, words formed by combining the initial letter(s) of a compound term or phrase.

The word 'cop' also did not enter the slang lexicon as an allusion to the highly polished buttons (which some say were made of copper) on American turn-of-the-century police uniforms or on those worn by the first London police force of the 1820s. It also doesn't refer to the metal various police badges or shields were made from.

Instead, the police-specific use of "cop" made its way into the English language in far more languid fashion. "Cop" has long existed as a verb meaning "to take or seize," but it didn't begin to make the linguistic shifts necessary to turn it into a casual term for "police officer" until the mid-19th century. The first example of 'cop' taking the meaning "to arrest" appeared in 1844, and the word then swiftly moved from being solely a verb for "take into police custody" to also encompassing a noun referring to the one doing the detaining. By 1846, policemen were being described as "coppers," the '-er' ending having been appended to the "arrest" form of the verb, and by 1859 "coppers" were also being called "cops," the latter word a shortening of the former.

 

[Thompson_JM]

for those who grew up in the 80s

COPS........Central Organization of Police Specialists

It's CRIME FIGHTING TIME!!!

 

[Old Ranger]

I think it also depends on who and how it is being said.

My brother(a copper) and I always throw names back and forth, but it is always in jest and not a public display.

I did pose a question to him that he only answered with a raised eyebrow.

"If police officers are refered to as Bacon, should the correct term for a PW be Breakfast?"
"Bacon and Eggs?"

We can always pick on each other....but dare someone outside try the same?

Cheers,

One of Societies Garbage men...

 

[Sig_Des]

It's CRIME FIGHTING TIME!!!

pfftt....CRIME'S A-WASTING!!!

 

[Loachman]

In my time flying the short-lived Toronto Police Helicopter, the police observers routinely referred to themselves and colleagues as "coppers".

 

[Kat Stevens]

I would think that if the worst thing you could think of to call a policeman(person?) is cop, he(she)'d be pretty durn happy with that.  I know I would.

 

[Lumber]

"I'm a COP you Idiot!!"
-Good ol' Arnold in "Kindergarten COP"