Talk:Police officer

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Contents 1 assessment 2 Merge 3 Check 4 "school leavers" 5 police "officers" 6 cop 7 Infectious diseases? 8 Requested move 9 who wrote this? 10 Officer Down Memorial Page 11 Criticism 12 police brutality 13 Conflicting information 14 Notable Police Officers 15 history 16 third sentence 17 capitalisation 18 Any help? 19 How much did they pay you? 20 Line of duty deaths

[edit] assessment

The lack of references, and the problems listed below, keep this article as a start in my opinion--SGGH 14:48, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

I tend to agree. However, being a newbe I would ask more experienced editors to either delete it or source it.Fraberj (talk) 07:42, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge

How do people here feel about merging Police officer with Police? Generalcp702 21:55, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

24.145.137.233It would be akin to merging doctor with medicine or clergy with religion. In other words, probably not a good idea.

Not such a good idea. They are two totally different subjects. Wikipedian27 19:45, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I think they should be merged or this one deleted if not sourced soon and disagree with Wikipedian27. It seems too large and grows with no sourcing at all. Fraberj (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 07:46, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Check

Sign here when you visit this page. I want to know how often people come here. --Generalcp702 22:30, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "school leavers"

"Although recruits to the police force are often school leavers..."

Can someone please clarify this? Does this mean that police officers are often highschool dropouts? Can this be verfied?

its a british term, it means finished secondary school, but do not go on to further education. StrengthCoach 07:57, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

Then shouldn't that be fixed? Non-Brits would perhaps take it to mean "those who quit school before completion".

I mistook it for "dropout", I also found it irrelevent to the topic under discussion (service in military or security services) no matter what the country involved and deleted it.--Buckboard 10:01, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

You should flag it for deletion so others may vote. Further, I find that the quality of oversight of police in my area and quality in general, as per railroadings is quite important an issue. Deleting it shows bias or not enough knowledge on the subject. Particularly when the entire court system is there to address this very subject as well.Fraberj (talk) 07:52, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] police "officers"

In countries using the English system, only those police members who have reached the rank of inspector or above are officers. Calling a police sergeant a police officer is like calling an army sergeant an army officer. Avalon 08:56, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Complete rubbish, I'm afraid. All British police are "police officers", no matter what their rank. This might not be the case in other countries, but it's certainly true throughout the United Kingdom. -- Necrothesp 00:06, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

i think that there shouldnt be any controversy on this subject

"Officer" is strictly generic here.--Buckboard 10:02, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] cop

Where does the term "cop" come from? I have heard it is from the British Constable On Patrol. I have also heard it is b/c their copper badge. Any truth?

For what its worth, I always assumed "cop" was an abbreviation of "copper", which is still used in Commonwealth English. "Copper" I believe came from "catch". The expressions, "Its a fair cop" (Its a reasonable charge which I (the villain) accept) and "I'll cop to that" (I'll admit my guilt in relation to that offence) would seem to be related. Avalon 11:35, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

The most likely explanation is that it comes from "to cap", an archaic term meaning "to arrest"; this was pronounced as "cop" in Northern England, and police officers came to be known as "coppers", which was later shortened back to "cop" in America. -- Necrothesp 00:12, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

For the Record, the OED lists this etymology. Piaggio108 22:50, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Don't forget the Latin term 'cappere', to capture... VJ Emsi 11:01, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

In Canada and the UK, C.O.P. stands for "Constable On Patrol". Other ideas surrounding this term seem to have developed, but the original and intended meaning is a fact.

No, this is almost certainly a fallacy, not a fact. For a start, police officers have only been known as "cops" in the UK in fairly recent years under American influence - "coppers" is still the commoner usage and almost the exclusive usage within the job itself (although "bobbies" is commoner still). -- Necrothesp 14:11, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I have never heard 'constable on patrol' used in the UK. I would also expect early badges to be made of hard-wearing brass, not copper. 81.105.58.19 00:54, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

Maybe "bobbies" is common where you are, but I don't think I've ever heard it used seriously in 25-odd years of living in southern England. Marnanel (talk) 17:17, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

From personal experience, in the North of England, the term bobbies is certainly still in wide usage. --Geoff Riley (talk) 20:14, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Well, I heard that it is derived from an era where the British Police used copper sheilds- thus "Copper" then "Cop". Apparently, there are lots of myths. Someone needs to come up with a source Angrynight 00:50, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

I saw a TV documentary some time ago that confirms your understanding. Apparently, according to that show, the first shields were made of copper. Jeff dean 02:19, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Also, cop may come from the action of making an arrest, in the past in the UK police were known to "cop" someone. 0103, 31Oct2006

I seriously doubt the slang term is based on an official abbreviation.

The movie Mad Max made me think about the obvious relation with the metal, too. In the UK the term "copper" as long form of "cop" seems to be rather common, so it'd make sense to assume the short form came later and the slang "copper" actually had something to do with the metal of the same name (IIRC in Mad Max the "coppers" were called bronzes because of the metal their badges were made of).

I prefer the term copper myself because it sounds less disparaging (IMO, anyway) and works nicer in German (which tends to favour slang words with two syllables), which would only offer the insulting "Bulle" (bull) as slang phrase for cops otherwise, which is why I've been wondering.

Either way, which one of both, if either, is considered more insulting and would it be considered an offense if you used it in the presence of a police officer? The German slang phrase can result in a non-trivial fine, so I'd rather know in advance before pissing off the wrong guys on my next trip to the Isles. — Ashmodai ^{(talk · contribs)} 16:22, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Snopes has a new page that answers this pretty thoroughly... http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/cop.asp

(As ever, Wikipedia can't give legal advice, but...) 1) I seriously doubt you could be charged with an offence purely for insulting an officer, as such. But there are always offences like "causing a breach of the peace" which could be made to fit; this gentleman [1] was arrested for the fighting as well as the insult. 2) "Cop", "copper", etc., are not derogatory in the UK (there ARE derogatory words, it's just not those). 3) If in doubt you could just stick to saying "policeman", of course. :) Marnanel (talk) 17:30, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Infectious diseases?

Why do infectious diseases deserve mention as a danger to police officers? Aren't they dangers to the entire public? --Generalcp702 00:04, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Police officers are much more at risk, since they often deal with blood (which may well be contaminated), drug users and people with little concern for hygiene. -- Necrothesp 13:51, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] who wrote this?

"It is a common misconception that police officers work to "serve and protect." In reality they are there to protect the interest of the rich, powerful and corrupt. This reality is best illustrated by the slang term PIG, whigh also illustrates the type of personality required to enslave and rob individuals of their God-granted freedom"

man! i thought everything i've heard about regarding misinformation on wikipedia was a joke. this is ridiculous though, and i deleted it.

Good deletion, probably someone from copwatch.com or somethin...

The term "PIG" probably belongs in a criticism of law enforcement or police brutality.

Hmmmmm.... Why do you want to know who they are? Are you a cop? You will notice, as well that someone wants everyone here to sign in? Seems like a police officer or vested interest trying to induce the well known chilling effect. As well you who deleted it know nothing of it (or are police as well) and how the police have ways to shut you up if you complain about the railroadings that occur. You complain to Internal Affairs then they come out to "investigate" the report. They will only be "investigating" the victims of their railroadings and use the evidence to railroad you further like "making false police reports", while they lie to the court (with immunity of course). The chief of police, and any one else in this U.S. dictatorship can call on them to "sneak and peek" search you, tap your phone or even date you with a "swallow" and worse if the political issue is big enough. Oh, and all these undercover cops (obliterating the 4th amendment) will race-bait, ethics-bait, child molester-bait you to boot. Soon the other cops even believe their own lies. The rat's nest comes down on you. Will the lawyers sue them? Not in many places, they will be in danger. And the legal fees? They have handlings to those railroaded who have something to say. Including placing undercover cops in their businesses to sabotage them, or delete your MySpace site, rob and beat you up posing as robbers, or all of the above again and again until you keep quite, etc., etc., etc. What's worse is all the cops know what's going on too. Wake up people, when the "ring of steel" is extended world wide along with the eyes in the sky you will not be able to then. Fraberj (talk) 08:41, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Officer Down Memorial Page

Putting this in Wikipedia was a copyright violation; it has been removed and will not be restored so the link to it needed to be removed from this article. Rlquall 16:26, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Criticism

It would be undeniably POV to leave out a criticism of cops, considering how many people do criticize them. 69.123.9.255

Sure. Just find credible sources and write it in an encyclopaedic tone. OTOH, I think notable allegations of corruption/brutality against specific officers or specific forces belong in the articles about those particular forces, and general concerns about the Police belong on that page, or at Police brutality etc. FiggyBee 00:33, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] police brutality

The line "Police brutality cases are on the rise in many democratic industrialized nations, especially the United States.[1]" is both unsupported (the provided link only gives statistics for the United States) and the "proof" that "police brutality" is on the rise in the United States is a quote from an obviously biased individual in the middle of an editorial masquerading as a news story. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.165.52.226 (talk • contribs) 7:44, 8 January 2007.

[edit] Conflicting information

The passage states that officers are more likely to be killed in car accidents than by suspects, yet the evidence offered contradicts that statement:

Officers are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents because of their large amount of time spent traveling/patrolling as well as their work outside their vehicles alongside or on the roadway or in dangerous pursuits. Officers killed by suspects make up a smaller proportion of deaths. In the U.S. in 2005, 156 line of duty deaths were recorded of which 44% were from assaults on officers, 35% vehicle related (only 3% during vehicular pursuits) and the rest from other causes: heart attacks during arrests/foot pursuits, diseases contracted from suspects, accidental gun discharges, falls, and drownings.[1]

While it may be true that vehicle deaths are more common overall, perhaps a different source should be used that encompasses more than one year of statistics and/or references the proportions in other countries.

Npschuma 06:55, 7 February 2007 (UTC)Npschuma

[edit] Notable Police Officers

I notice that the notable police officers section has been more or less copletely duplicated at Well-known_police_officers. I would suggest that might be a better place for it than to have a long list here on the main article, so perhaps the whole section should be replaced by a link in the 'see also' area. If not, perhaps the other page should be redirected here. Stevecudmore 01:57, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

((Chirp, Chirp)) Okay, then, I made sure everyone was on the other page, added a link and removed the section. Stevecudmore 19:07, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] history

There's nothing on the police officers of historic times.

For instance, the origin, dress, procedures etc etc of the British "Bobby" of times gone by.

195.24.29.51 13:34, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] third sentence

minor changes, but I believe it would read better to say, "Police officers can be trained in a vast array of specialties including armed response, hostage negotiation. . ." I have never heard "specialisms" before, but I am not a police officer (or English teacher) and I could be wrong. 198.105.8.48 00:41, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

I have changed it, and also trimmed down the list which was well unwieldy. There's also a different list of "specialisms" further down the article... FiggyBee 01:24, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] capitalisation

A quick note on capitalisation: as a rule, the names of jobs are not capitalised (firefighter, plumber, police officer, president) except where they are a formal job title that is used with a name (Police Constable Smith, President Clinton). Thus:

"I called 911 and said I needed a police officer. Before long, Officer Bloggins arrived."

(My reference: The Canadian Press Stylebook, XI edition) Stevecudmore 16:38, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Any help?

I know the term "bobby" has been recently replaced by another one, but I don't know which one... Can anybody tell me, please?

Thanks in advance —Preceding unsigned comment added by Emmagruiz (talk • contribs) 18:28, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

I don't think it was ever a formal or official name. It's a nickname, after Robert Peel, and as far as I know, it's still used. "Peelers" was another nickname in the 19th century that has fallen into disuse (except when referring to strippers). Do you recall where you got that impression? bobanny 17:07, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How much did they pay you?

This sounds like a TOTAL ad for becoming a cop. And with your special vandalism policies, how much more could you ask for? Yes you have that oh so special section that discrbes 'alternative' views on coppers but please, where are all the views? There are people who have legitimate reasons to despise the police - these aren't just alternatives but blunt oppositions. How much further will the country go to bend over backwards for a group of power hunger jerks who are on the take. I believe there needs to be a massive rewrite of this article and hope to make some changes in the future. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.189.145.72 (talk) 05:12, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Line of duty deaths

"Despite the increased risk of being a victim of a homicide, automobile accidents are the most common cause of officer deaths. (...) Officers killed by suspects make up a smaller proportion of deaths. In the U.S. in 2005, 156 line of duty deaths were recorded of which 44% were from assaults on officers, 35% vehicle related..."

Maybe my English isn't good enough to correctly understand this paragraph, but to me, it seems to be contradictory. 62.152.162.24 (talk) 06:42, 10 June 2008 (UTC)