List of police-related slang terms

Anda

An Urdu language word meaning egg, since the uniform of traffic police in urban Pakistani areas like Karachi is pure white.

Ayna

A Turkish phrase derived from aynasız, referring to 'those without a mirror', a pejorative description of police lacking honor and having too much shame to look at themselves in the mirror. Often used by Turkish and Middle Eastern immigrants, particularly to describe police who will beat or assault them when no witnesses are present.

Babylon

Jamaican, establishment systems, often applied to police.[1] Derived from the Rastafari movement which, in turn, relies upon a Babylon 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. Derived from the term "Pig/Pigs" and is derogatory. Can refer to a single officer or the police generally.[2]

Barney

Slang term for a town policeman, usually derogatory, named after Barney Fife.

Battenburg

Referring to yellow and blue, large, squared, reflective checker pattern on UK police cars; reference is to a type of cake. (Update from "Jam Sandwich" of earlier cars.)

Bears

A slang term for the police (citizen's band radio slang), "Smokey the Bear" in reference to the Highway Patrol campaign hats. Seldom derogatory and very common with truckers in the US.

The Beast

US term used in this singular form to refer to any number of police officers as well as when referring to an entire police force or to police in general. This linguistic pattern results in an implied sense that individual police are all representative parts of one whole, monstrous creature with a united objective and attitude. Referenced most widely on The Fugees' album The Score.

Beat cop

inoffensive slang for patrolling officers.

Bill

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

Bird

US, slang for a police helicopter. See also "Ghetto Bird". Not to be confused with the UK parallel to "chicks", a more modern and now more common use of "birds."

Bizzies

UK, said to have been coined in Merseyside, as the police were always too "busy" to help citizens who reported low-level crimes such as house burglaries. An alternative origin is that the police are seen as "busybodies", i.e., they ask too many questions and meddle in the affairs of others.

Black Maria (pronounced "Mariah")

Slang term used in the UK and elsewhere meaning police van used to transport prisoners, also used in the 19th century in the US and France with various suggested etymologies including racehorses or an infamous black, large and fierce Liverpool guesthouse owner, Maria Lea.

Black police

黑警. A derogatory Cantonese slang widely used to insult a Hong Kong Police Force officer by pro-democracy supporters during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.[3] Portmanteau for triad gangsters (黑社會) and police (警察) . See also triads for context.

Blackshirt

UK, derogatory name referencing the modern police uniforms and the armed squads of Italian Fascists under Benito Mussolini.

Blues and Twos

UK, from the flashing blue lights and the two frequency siren on a police car

Blueband

UK, from the blue cap band worn by PCSOs.

Bluebottle

Antique name for the police referring to the old-style uniform.[4]

Blue Canary

Canadian, a term used by firefighters to rib police officers. Miners historically used canaries to monitor the air quality of a mine; when the canary died the air quality was considered too poor to work in. Police officers have been known to put themselves at risk when rendering aid, usually running into a fire or other toxic atmosphere without proper training or personal protective equipment. Antonym: Hose Monkey.

Blue Force

US slang term for the police, mainly used in Florida.

Blue Heeler

Australian slang term, particularly in rural areas, in reference to the blue appearance and traits of the Blue Heeler Australian Cattle Dog. Blue Heelers was a long running Australian police television drama series.

Blue Light Special

Slang term for someone being pulled over.

Blue Meanies

1960s and 1970s hippy slang for the police in Britain, referring to the blue uniforms.

Bobby

UK, derived from the Conservative British Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel ("Bobby" being a nickname for "Robert"), the founder of the Metropolitan Police.[5] Occurs in fixed phrases e.g. "bobby on the beat", "village bobby". Also still used on UK Railways to describe signalmen and women - this dates back to the earliest days of railway operations where a train driver was required to stop only at the behest of a policeman.

Bœuf

Quebec, ('ox'). Probably in opposition to the French term vache ('cow'), or for the usual featureless gaze of police officers colloquially called face de bœuf ('ox face'). Allows to call a police car an 'ox cart' (char à bœufs).

Booked

UK and US, usually after being arrested, to be taken to custody suite and held there in a cell. "They took me to the nick and they booked me." (Dizzie Rascal)

Bofia

a derogatory slang in Portugal used for police officers and law enforcement in general.[6]

Booze Bus

Australian slang term referring to a police roadside random breath testing station, which are often specialized buses.

Boy Dem

UK slang term for one or more police officers.[7]

The Boys

Term used by African-American communities in Baltimore.

Boys in blue

In reference to the blue uniform.[8]

Brady Cops

Police officers who have been dishonest are sometimes referred to as "Brady cops".

Bronze

Police slang term used in Mad Max originated in Australia but used in the UK.

BTP

Specialized use (mainly on UK railways) - abbreviation of "British Transport Police", the oldest and only fully UK national police force. Sometimes derogatorily known as "Sleepers" (US railroad "ties") but not due to their position in the track.

Buck Rogers

UK (London and south east) comic/derogatory reference to officer using speed trap gun.

Bull

Railroad police in the US, most prevalent in the first half of the 20th century.

Bulle

German for 'bull'. Slang for police officer, often derogatory. Bullerei and the plural Bullen refer to the police as a whole.[9][10]

Buttons (The)

US, 1940s, referring to the large brass buttons of the era.

Byling

Old Swedish slang for patrolling officers. The word means "peeler" in Swedish and it is rarely used nowadays.[11]

Cana

Slang term for police officers in Argentina ("walking stick"). Widely used against repressive police during December 2001 riots in Argentina, possibly because by then policemen used nightsticks against protesters.

Candy cars

Slang term for police cars in the UK due to the livery being yellow and blue. (Ambulances are yellow and green, fire service yellow and red and transport (motorway) yellow and black. Except for the black all are reflective. The backs of all vehicles are red/yellow inverted chevrons - only red/yellow because the other colors are not legal on the back.

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".[12]

Chien

Québec, ("dog"). Very derogatory.

CHIPS

Used to refer to California Highway Patrol Officers.

Chlupatej

Czech slang term for police officer. Meaning of word is "hairy".

Chota

Central American slang term.

City Kitties

A slang term for Police officers.

Clear

Often shouted when police, FBI or SWAT team have swept the area and no criminal activity is present at specific area of the criminal scene.

Cogne

French, roughly means "to beat up". It is used in Les Misérables among others.

• Décarrons. Je crois à tout moment qu’un cogne me cintre en pogne ! — (Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, 1862, chap. III p.1261)

Cop Shop

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

Cop, Coppa 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.[13] The OED suggests that "copper" is from "cop" in this sense, but adds that the derivation is uncertain. Many imaginative but incorrect stories have come up over the years, including that cop refers to the police uniform's copper buttons, the police man's copper badge, or that it is an abbreviation for "constable on patrol", "constabulary of police", or "chief of police".[14]

Cosmonaut

See Kosmonavt.

County Mountie

In Canada in reference to county police officers or sheriffs. Also used by truckers on their CB's to refer to county sheriffs or county police departments in the US.

Crusher

UK Victorian era slang term for a police officer. from the slang term beetle crushers, in reference to the heavy boots they wore in the era.

Cuntstable

Derogatory UK slang term for a police officer, a portmanteau of constable and cunt.

Ds

Slang for detectives, police.[15]

Dibble

The name of fictional police officer in the cartoon Top Cat. "Dibble" has been adopted as a British-English derogatory slang term for police officer.[16]

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". Dickless Tracy is used in Australia as slang for female police officers.

Dirty police

See also black police.

Divvy Van

Australian slang for police van (divisional van). The term is confined mostly to Victoria and Western Australia.

Dogs

Georgian and Polish slang for police; comparable with "pigs". Also a common derogative term for Hong Kong police officers.

Donut Patrol or Donut Muncher

Refers to unhealthy police officers in the United States. Comes from night shift officers stopping at doughnut shops for coffee, as they often used to be the only catering establishments open all night long.

Double Bubble

Refers to Australian highway patrol vehicles with rotating twin blue lights.

Discowägeli

Derogatory Term for police car in the German speaking Part of Switzerland, loosely translates as "disco cart". Might stem from the fact that some Swiss police use two different sirens on the same car (loud for daytime, muffled for night or one set for city one for country corps).

Fakabát

An old Hungarian term meaning "wooden-coat". This name comes from the brownish vinyl jackets issued as a part of the uniform during the Socialist era. The term is still widely known today.

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. Also used in Australia to refer to the Australian Federal Police, and in London as general slang for the Metropolitan Police Service, due to influence from U.S. media.

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.[17] 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 used in the US. Non-derogatory, e.g.: "If you notice loose plastic cap over the card slot of ATM just call Five-O". It is sometimes shouted out as a warning by lookouts or others engaged in illegal activity when a police officer is spotted.

Fízl

Czech pejorative term for police officer.

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 backup, particularly during war when established police officers would often join up (or be forced to).[18] What is known is that by 1912, flat-footed was an insult among U.S. baseball players, used against players not "on their toes." This may have been applied to police officers sometime later, for similar reasons.[19]

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.[20]

Fucking Big Idiots

Slang abbreviation for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Derogatory

Fuzz

As "the fuzz" is a slang term for the police, possibly deriving from a mispronounciation or corruption of the phrase "the police force" or "the force". It may also refer to police radio static.The term was also used in the title of Hot Fuzz, a 2007 police-comedy film and Peter Peachfuzz from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. The term is also referenced in the title of the Supergrass single "Caught by the Fuzz". CB radio lingo called the police "Bears" fuzz is was a spin off from this because bears are fuzzy.

Gaets

Russian, slang, Гаец, pl Гайцы. Only slightly disparaging, in general use. Traffic police officers. From the historical abbreviation GAI (Russian: ГАИ - Государственная Автомобильная Инспекция for State Automobile Inspectorate).

Gammon

UK, see Bacon

Gestapo

Non-police related slang term for door security (Bouncers) in reference to their white armbands. Reference to the secret police of Nazi Germany, also called the Gestapo.

Ghetto Bird

US, derogatory, slang for a police helicopter.

Glina

Polish, widespread and non-derogatory term used for all police officers but specifically for higher-ranking or criminal police personnel.

Grass

Cockney (English) rhyming slang for a police informant: Grasshopper = Copper.[21] Alternative suggestions are from "Narc in the Park", or the song "Whispering Grass".

Gschmierte

for police officers, "Schmier" for the police, in Austrian German slang. Derogatory.

Gorra

Lower class Argentine slang, Spanish for "hat". Derogatory.

Grüne Minna

(German for green Minna, short form of Wilhelmine), denomination for a prisoner transport in Germany and Austria, also "Grüner August" (German for green August) in some regions in Germany (like Hamburg, Swabia...) or "Grüner Heinrich" (German for green Henry) in Austria as well

Guards or Guard

Ireland, slang for the Garda Síochána or one of its members. From the old name for the force, the Civil Guards.

Gumshoe

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

Gura

Latin American Spanish slang for police enforcement, derogatory.[22]

Ḥakem

Ḥakem (حاكم) is a Tunisian slang term for police, meaning "ruler" in Arabic.

Harness bull

American term for a uniformed officer.[23] A reference to the Sam Browne belt that was formerly part of some police uniforms, also Harness cop, Harness man.[24]

Heat or The Heat

For police and law enforcement in general (due to some police vehicles featuring red lights).

Hobby Bobby

UK slang for special constables.

Heh

Derogatory denomination for the police, especially in Vienna, Austria

Hurry up van

Slang term used on Merseyside to describe a police van.

In the bag

NYPD slang for being a uniformed patrol officer.

Jack or Jacks

English/Australian slang term short for jackboots. The term can be used to describe a police officer, informant or an unreliable person. "To go jack on a mate" is the act of betraying associates or implicating them in a crime. A "jack (insert colourful name here)" is someone who is considered not be trusted. Also old slang for CID in Liverpool.[25]

Jackboots

Heavily armed police in riot gear

Jake/Jake the Snake

Slang term for the police originated in the Bronx (mildly derogatory).

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.

Japsae

South Korean term for the police.

Johnny

Sometimes used to refer to the police in Upstate South Carolina.

Karao

Used in Kenya to refer to police; seen as derogatory. Its source is the sheng language (mashup of English and Kiswahili).[26]

Keuf

French, 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 reversed, thus making the word "kuhflee". In turn, "lee" was dropped from the word, leaving "keuf".

Kiberer

also "Kiwara" in Austrian German slang for a police officer, in Vienna denomination for a police detective, "Kiberei" or "Kiwarei" for the police. Slightly derogatory.

Kollegen mat den Rallysträifen

Luxembourgish, literally "colleagues / fellows with the rally stripes". A reference to police officers with their police cars, which in Luxembourg have three stripes on the bonnet and on each side, representing the national colours (red, white, light blue). Due to the fact that the police cars are white as well as 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 an OMON policeman equipped with riot gear (literally "cosmonaut").[27][28]

Krasnopyoriye

Russian, slang, Краснопёрые sg Краснопёрый ("red-feathered"), outdated. Refers to the USSR police uniform of 1975–1990 having red collar insignia of rhombic shape.

Kerovi

Serbian slang for police, used to disrespect the police officers, comes from word ker which in slang means dog .

Law, Laws, 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". According to one of a number of theories, this was part of the logo of the Moscow Investigation Department in 1928. But the term also was in XIX century.[29]

LEOs

Law Enforcement Officers.

LID

in reference to uniform Officers head wear, often used as a put down by the CID ex. 'Those bloody lids' attempted derogatory CE

Local Yokel

A reference to city or town police forces, almost solely used in conjunction with "County Mountie". Mildly derogatory.

Lodówa

a Polish slang term for a police van, literally "fridge". Refers to the large size and boxy shape of police vans.

Mabando

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.

Maama

Hindi, मामा. Commonly used in Hindi to describe a male police person, typically referring to traffic police.

Mama/Mami

Marathi, slang, मामा/मामी. literally meaning "maternal uncle/his wife", it is one of the most common forms of addressing any male/female strange elder. Used frequently in Pune and Mumbai for traffic police personnel on the roads.

Man, The

Derogatory. Police officer or other government agent who has control, either by force or circumstance. Widely used in the United States, especially among African Americans and prisoners. Popular during the 1960s and 1970s by anti-establishment groups.[30]

Maréchaussée

The police force that preceded the Gendarmerie as the law enforcement agency in rural France. The Maréchaussée was under the control of the Maréchal (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.

Mata/Mata-Mata

A common slang in both Singapore and Malaysia. "Mata" means "eye" in Malay and connotes surveillance, thus becoming a metonym for the police.

Meat Wagon

Common UK term for a police van, typically a Transit van, used for transporting people from a crime scene to the police station. Not commonly used for police cars or riot vans.

”John got arrested for being drunk and disorderly, the Polis cuffed him and threw him in the back of the Meat Wagon"

Ment

Russian, slang, Мент, pl Менты. Only slightly disparaging, in general use (e.g. Ments is an alternative title for Streets of Broken Lights). The word dates back to the nineteenth century and is originally Hungarian, meaning "cloak" (because the Austro-Hungarian police uniform included a cloak).[31]

Millicents

Term originated from the novel A Clockwork Orange.

Militia

Slang in Romania and various post-Soviet countries with roots from the secret police.

Mr. Plod

See Plod.

Moosor

Russian, lit. "garbage" (but countable), offensive. Etymology uncertain, theories suggested include the acronym MUS for "Moscow Criminal Investigation [Office]" (Московский Уголовный Сыск) in Tzarist Russia and Hebrew for "informer." Also, in Belarus, acronym MUS stands for Ministry for Home Affairs (Belarusian: Міністэрства ўнутраных спраў, МУС), and is embroidered on policeman uniform.[29]

Mountie(s)

Canada, colloquial, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Also used in Australia to refer to the mounted police sections of the various state police forces.

Murija

Serbo-Croatian, common colloquial term for "police"; from the Italian word muro, meaning "wall"

Musor ; in Russian means garbage. Used as Derogatory slang to refer to police

Narc or Nark

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

Neighbour

Partner (Possible only used in Scotland with Detectives).

Nick

A police station (British slang).

Nicked

To be arrested (British slang).

Noddies.

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.[32] However, the word is quite old fashioned and is used much less nowadays, especially by younger people. [source?]

One Time

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

Occifer/ossifer

A slang term used to satirically reference the title of a police officer, while implying that the speaker is intoxicated. Popularized by the 1978 Cheech & Chong film Up in Smoke.

Ōkami

Derogatory Japanese term for police. The term is a pun: the word can mean “one who is above” (大上), a term often used “in reference to the emperor, one's lord, or the authorities”;[33] “supreme deity” (大神); or “wolf” (狼). Commonly used by the protagonist of the dorama Gokusen.

Ottowagen

(German for "Otto car") colloquial for a police car in some regions of Lower Saxony, Germany

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.[34]

Paddy wagon

A police van. So named in Liverpool, UK as most of the policemen and prisoners were of Irish extraction.

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. Original Panda cars were the same model of car bought by two adjacent forces - the one in black and the other in white. The doors were then swapped between vehicles giving all the two-tone colour scheme one way round or the other. Bonnets (hoods) could also be swapped. Not clear if boot (trunk) lids were swapped. Not all fitted with a blue beacon. Some fitted with a large box shaped roof sign "police" with the blue beacon on top (or not). Many were Morris 1000, Austin Morris Minis or 1100s. Ford Anglias and later Escorts also used by some forces. Colour scheme later changed to blue (usually light blue) with white doors - or, again, the reverse - light blue with white doors.

Pandu

Marathi, derogatory, पांडू. Used chiefly in Mumbai.[35] This slang for policemen, especially hawaladars, ("हवालदार", meaning constable) came to be from the 1975 Dada Kondke film "Pandu Hawaldar".

Panduri

Serbo-Croatian, slang for a group of police officers. The meaning derived from the Latin word banderium, in which the word banderia also came from. They were military units created by Austro-Hungarian nobles in the 15th century, as well as light military border units composed of Croats, Hungarians, Romanians, and Serbs during the Ottoman Empire. Nowadays, it is used in Serbia (and parts of Bosnia, Croatia, and Montenegro) in a derogatory manner.Пандур

Parak

A slang term used for policemen in the Philippines.

Paw Patrol

slang term for K-9 units or Dog Units in the UK.

Probinsyano

Another slang term used for policemen in the Philippines due to the famous TV Show Ang Probinsyano.

Party van

Russian, a police car or van, especially one housing an entire squad and sent out to perform a search and seizure and/or an arrest at a specific site. Hints at the party of police officers that it holds and/or the "party" it's going to "throw" at its destination.

Pasma

Derogatory term used in Spain to refer to the police in general.[36] The singular form is "Pasmuti".

Peeler

UK, archaic, although may have survived longer in Ireland than Britain, from Sir Robert Peel (see "Bobby").

Perp

Perpetrator/criminal instigator.

Peterwagen

(German for "Peter car") colloquial for a Hamburg Police car[37]

Pharaoh

Russian, old-fashioned. Allegedly refers to Tsarist city policemen and passage guards standing still and emotionlessly on their posts, paying no attention to the bustling of the city around them. In older times, they were also armed with poleaxes or clubs that they were stereotypically holding like a sceptre.

Pies

A slang term used commonly in Poland to describe all kinds of police officers. 'Pies' means a dog in Polish and is understood to compare police activity to that of dogs i.e.sniffing around etc. Highly derogatory, not used in any official circumstances.

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. The adult cartoon Fritz The Cat (1972) portrayed the police as pigs, adding to the popularity of the term. Now prevalent in many English-speaking countries.[38] It is also used in anti-authority punk, goth, metalhead, biker, mobster and hip-hop circles. Oz magazine showed a picture of a pig dressed as a policeman on a front cover[39] and the term inspired "pig cops" in the video game Duke Nukem 3D.

Pig pen

Cop shop, i.e., police station.

Pinched

To be arrested (American slang).

Pikachu

In Vietnam, this word refers to traffic police, who wear yellow suits and therefore resemble the Pokémon Pikachu.

Plastic Policeman

UK slang term for Police Community Support Officers.

Placa

Slang term for police officer or Police men. Origination Mexico

Plod, PC Plod or Plodder

Slang, UK and Australia. 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.[40]

Polda

Czech slang for police officer. Originated as short of word "policista" - Czech term for policeman.

Polente

Slang for the police in German, slightly derogatory.

Polis

Scottish slang for police (not to be confused with the exaggerated US pronunciation 'po-leece').

Ponda

Slang for policemen in Kashmir region of Jammu & Kashmir, India. It is said to have derived from the British Pound sterling, insinuating that the police are susceptible to bribery.

Pony Soldier

Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Porkchop

Variation on Pig.

Po-po, Popo, Popos, PoPo

A derogatory street term for police. Originally from Southern California, where bicycle police, beginning in the 1980s, wore T-shirts marked 'PO', for 'police officer', in block letters. As these officers rode in pairs, their shirts would read 'POPO' when side by side. Yelled out by children to warn a neighborhood that police are in the area.

Poulet

French derogatory slang for police (literally "chicken"), similar to American English "pig".

Puerco

Hispanic derogatory slang for police (literally "pig").

Purken

Norwegian slang for the police (literally "the sow").

Queen's Cowboys

Canadian slang term for members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Rati

Argentinean slang term for police officers derived from "rata" (rat). Also derived from vesre pronunciation of tira ("strap"), since older police uniforms would feature a leather strap across the officer's chest.[41] See Tira.

Also used in Chile as slang for a member of the PDI.

Reggin

Slang used for non-white police officers in Latvia.

Rent-a-cop

Not actually used to refer to police officers, but instead a derogatory term applied to any privately hired security guard who is not acting as a bouncer or bodyguard.

Road Pirates

US, Slang for law enforcement who perform traffic enforcement such as writing citations for speeding and reckless driving.

Rollers

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

Roussin

French.[42] In the 18th century undercover detectives in high society were dressed in a reddish (roussâtre) long jacket.

Rozzers

UK, slang for police officers, first recorded in the late 1800s.[43]

Sanki

A Polish term for detention, literally "sleigh", comes from "sankcje" - sanctions.

Sbirro

Italian slang term for a police officer.

Schmier

a slang (derogative) term for a policeman in Switzerland. Literally German for 'dirt'/'smear'/'grease', derived from 'schmiergeld' or 'schmieren' - 'bribe money' and 'to bribe' respectively. Referring police as a whole as a totally corrupt organization. Makes plural (schmiere[n]) and feminine (schmierin) forms.

Scuffer

a term used in Liverpool for a policeman.

Scum

A highly offensive term for the police. Commonly used in the U.K. Never allow a police officer to hear you say this in the U.K. Very similar in use to "The Filth"

"The Scum are raiding John’s house. The Filth are never done harassing him"

Shades

Garda Síochána, the police force of the Republic of Ireland.[44][45][46] Derived from Traveller Cant, it is said to refer either to the two shades of blue on the Garda uniform, or to the practice of wearing peaked uniform caps, casting a "shade" over their eyes.[47][48]

Shickalon[e]y

Garda Síochána, the police force of the Republic of Ireland. Based on a mispronunciation of Síochána.[49][50][51]

Six-up

slang term for police originating in San Francisco CA USA, in the mid to late 1970s. Used primarily by followers of the Grateful Dead. Therefore, use of the term seems to be dying out.

Slops

A "back-slang" formation from "police" spelled backwards, "ecilop" = "slop". Common before World War II in the UK. Rare today.

Smokey

State police or troopers. Derived from over-the-road trucker CB radio calls, as popularized by the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit. Not necessarily derogatory.

Snut

Norwegian/Swedish slang used by teenagers for cops.

Stater/Statie

A state trooper, as opposed to a local county or federal police officer of the US.

Stormtrooper/Stormtroopers

Mainly used to refer to riot police though it can be used to refer to any group of police, referencing their paramilitary gear and blank uniform appearance alluding to both the German Stormtroopers of the World Wars (suggesting inherent authoritarian leanings) and the Imperial Stormtroopers of the Star Wars films (drawing connotations with being faceless henchmen).

Suka

Polish for "bitch", both in the sense of 'female dog' and as an offensive term, refers to a police van. Possibly a play on "pies".

Sweeney, The

UK slang term for the Flying Squad of London's Metropolitan Police Service. From Cockney rhyming slang: "Sweeney Todd" = "Flying Squad".

The Thin Blue Line

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

Thulla

ठुल्ला. A North Indian slang for policemen. One theory is that it is derived from "thulla", a name used in Eastern India for the jute gunny sack, which resembles the khaki uniforms worn by many police forces in the country.

Tira

A Brazilian Portuguese slang word (colloquial) for police officers, its origin cames from tira [ˈt͡ʃi.ɾa], since older police uniforms had a strap across the chest.

Toniwagen

(German for "Toni car") historical denomination for a Volkspolizei car in East Berlin, East Germany

Tombo

A Peruvian, Colombian and other South American countries' slang term, comes from switching the syllabes of "Botón", which means button, an allusion to the ribbons or medals that police officers used to wear on their uniforms.

Town Clown

Town or city police officers, contrasted with county or state police. Usually considered derogatory.[52]:

Twelve/ "12"'

"12" is a slang name whose popularity is on the rise currently. This name is used mostly by criminals or people to warn those indulging in crime or illegal activity that police officers are on their way. Although the term 12 is a police radio call code, urban slang has changed it into a warning phrase. One possible etymologies include 1312, the numeric representation of the acronym "ACAB" which stands for "all cops are bastards", as well as an account of the phrase deriving from the 70's television show "Adam 12"

Triads

黑社會. A derogatory slang given by pro-democracy supporters, during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, to hurl insult at members of Hong Kong Police Force after their failure in protecting train passengers from attacks by allegedly gang members and their alleged collusion during the attack at a train station in Yuen Long .[53]

Txakurra

A Euskera word meaning dog. Slang for a police officer, especially a member of Ertzaintza (the Euskal Herria police).

Vics

US slang term for the police in the 1990s and 2000s referring to the Ford Crown Victoria, a car model commonly used by police departments.

Slang term used in Victoria, Australia for the Victoria Police.

Also used by the police to refer to crime victims in the US.

Walloper

Australian slang for a police officer. Commonly used in the 19th to 20th centuries for the policeman on the beat, carrying a truncheon.

Wanne

(German for tub) denomination of trellised police personnel carriers of the Berlin Police, Germany

Water Rat

Derogatory Australian slang for Water Police. Water Rats was a long-running TV police procedural based on the Sydney Water Police.

Weiße Mäuse

(German for white mouse / white mice), due to their white uniforms and peaked caps. In Germany: colloquial denomination of traffic police units of the state police forces and in Austria: colloquial denomination of motorbikes police units

Whiter-than-White, The

Derisive term for a police force predominantly full of racist white officers, British-English in origin.

Woodentop

A uniformed police officer. Derisory term used by British plain-clothes detectives.

Woody

A plastic police officer. Derisory term used for British police.

Wout

Dutch slang for police, meaning authority.

Yuta

Derogatory term for police used in Argentina, Uruguay and some parts of Chile, possibly a corruption of yunta (yoke) since they usually ride in pairs.

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