VES

Initialism of vent, enter, search (“a firefighting and rescue strategy”).


antilaundering

(law enforcement) Countering money laundering.


prison labor

Work which one is compelled to perform due to lack of options, by choice while in prison, or outright against one's will, while in a condition of confinement or slavery.


fire service

en-noun

fire service (countable and uncountable, plural fire services)

(firefighting) Service in a fire department or other firefighting organization, whether as a chosen career, or as a result of volunteering or a form of prison labor.


PNP

Philippine National Police
w:Philippine National Police

(Philippines, law enforcement) Initialism of Philippine National Police.


last meal

Inmate Arthur Dennis Rutherford, who was executed in Florida on October 18, 2006, enjoyed a last meal of fried catfish, fried green tomatoes, fried eggplant, hush puppies, and sweet tea.

2007, Lee Lofland, Howdunit Book of Police Procedure and Investigation: A Guide for Writers:

Heathers: the Musical - Dead Girl Walking
Cuz Heather says I gotsta go / You're my last meal on death row / Shut your mouth, and lose them tighty-whities!

A final meal that a prisoner may choose before being executed.


prison bitch

What kind of life can a prison bitch expect to lead once he is released?

2004, Alexander Cockburn, Serpents in the garden: liaisons with culture & sex, page 273:

What's the tattoo for a prison bitch? A rabbit? A pansy? Maybe,” she added scornfully, “a nice big bull's eye tattooed right on your ass

2007, Gil Snider, Brain Warp: A Medical Thriller, page 255:

“More like the big house,” Tyree snapped. “Mama, I don't wanna end up a prison bitch,” Cecile cried.

2009, R.A. Melos, The Adventures of Homosexual Man and Lesbian Ladd, page 79:

(prison slang) A male prisoner used as a sex slave by another man in the absence of available women.


wag-halter

I can tell you, I am a mad waghalter.

1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, I.1:

(obsolete) Someone who is likely to swing in a halter; someone likely to be hanged.


prisonment

prisonment (countable and uncountable, plural prisonments)

Partly from prison + -ment, partly shortened from imprisonment.

Yet will I never of my love repent, / But joy that for his sake I suffer prisonment.

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:


prison guard

And Tietelbaum has been bought and sold so many times by the dark Republican powers that be, look at the prisonguard beating trial and the Ventura County sewer fiasco.

1997, Gary Indiana, Resentment: A comedy, New York: Anchor Books, published 1998, →ISBN, →OL, page 170:

During his services as a praetorian, Caesium Verus was twice promoted, first to tubicen (trumpeter), then to optio carceris (camp prisonguard): ordinatus tubicem item optio at carcarem factus est.

1987, Arctos: Acta philologica fennica, volumes 21-23, page 29:

The Telfaire Prisonguard towers rise miragelike in the swampy sunlight like giant mushroom caps on grey concrete stalks.

2011, Marc Ian Barasc, The Compassionate Life: Walking the Path of Kindness, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, →ISBN:

(law enforcement) An armed person working to provide order, security, discipline, punishment, and prevent escapes of prisoners in a jail that answers to a warden.

zindançı

person working to provide order to in a jail


multialarm

Fires which have heretofore been one‐alarm skirmishes are now multialarm small wars.

1977 February 14, Joseph E. Galvin, “Under Fire”, in The New York Times:

Two multialarm fires burned out of control for several hours in New York City last night, one racing through seven frame dwellings and leaving more than 100 people homeless in the Morrisania section of the Bronx and another, reportedly set by arsinists^([sic]), destroying a series of stores and residences in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.

1977 July 25, “Fires Burn in Bronx and Brooklyn”, in The New York Times:

(US, firefighting, of a fire) Requiring the work of several firetrucks to contain or extinguish.


stateprison

On his way, under the care of the sheriff of Oswego county, to the stateprison, Lett made his escape, at the imminent peril of his life, by leaping from a railroad car while it was under full motion.

1841, William H. Seward, letter to Mr. Webster:

(US, dated) A prison maintained by the state.


stitch-up

Wilson's election as leader was a stitch-up by the committee.

Lynch added: "Our findings from our FOI requests on ticket office closures shows the whole process to be a stitch-up between the train operators, under the auspices of the Rail Delivery Group[,] and ministers.

2023 October 18, Mel Holley, “Network News: Harper attacks Labour over strikes... but unions hit back”, in RAIL, number 994, page 18:

(British, slang) Something arranged deceitfully and in secret.

interne Vereinbarung

something arranged deceitfully and in secret


prisoner of conscience

prisoner of conscience (plural prisoners of conscience)

Defined by Peter Benenson in his article "The Forgotten Prisoners" in 1961.

Anyone imprisoned because of his race, religion, or political views.


blue wall

From blue + wall. From the representative color of the political party, and the solidity of support for that party in that region.

blue wall of silence
blue wall of silence#English

(law enforcement politics) Alternative form of blue wall of silence


blue wall of silence

blue wall of silence (plural blue walls of silence)

We've all heard of the Blue Wall of Silence, the code under which cops stay mum about rogue cops who poison the barrel.

1985 June 25, Sydney H. Schanberg, “New York: The Concrete Wall of Silence”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-08-12:

When the blue wall of silence broke, it was all over for New York City police officer Justin Volpe. The witnesses for the prosecution had badges, and they had stories to tell.

1999 May 25, Frank Pellegrini, “Too Despicable for the Blue Wall of Silence”, in Time:

The indictment of officer Michael Roberts also highlights another color barrier that can complicate matters of police discipline—that's the so-called blue wall of silence. Former Minneapolis police officer Mike Quinn says that wall is what keeps some cops from turning in their fellow cops.

2008 July 15, Brandt Williams, Elizabeth Stawicki, “Minneapolis cop indicted on corruption charges”, in Minnesota Public Radio, retrieved 2012-08-12:

On the streets it is called "No snitching." In law enforcement it is called "The blue wall of silence".

2009 June 6, Donald Winkfield, “Manhattan DA’s Keystone Verdict”, in Black Star News, retrieved 2012-08-12:

(idiomatic) Strict secretiveness maintained by the members of a police force with respect to information which might be contrary to their interests, especially information concerning questionable police actions.


SOCO

scenes of crime officer
w:Scenes of Crime officer

(UK, law enforcement) Acronym of scenes of crime officer.


moving violation

moving violation (plural moving violations)

Under present law, the Department of Public Safety can suspend a license from 30 to 90 days when the holder accumulates three moving violations.

1959 May 20, Taking Violators Off the Road, St Petersburg Times, p. 8A

(US, Canada, Australia, law enforcement) Violation of the law by the driver of a vehicle while in motion.

Verkehrsverstoß

violation of law by the driver of a moving vehicle


Dixonian

From Alfred Dixon, English mathematician.

(mathematics) Of, relating to or formulated by Alfred Dixon.


scapegallows

From scape (archaic for escape) + gallows.

compound

archaic for <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">escape</i>

[…] And remember this, 'scapegallows,' said Ralph, menacing him with his hand, 'that if we meet again, and you so much as notice me by one begging gesture, you shall see the inside of a jail once more […]

1838–1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby:

(colloquial, dated) A criminal who has narrowly escaped being hanged.


swy

(Australia, slang) A two-year prison sentence.


antiextortion

In response, the federal authorities initiated a nationwide antiextortion program, including a national database to track protection rackets and a promise to protect all willing to formally complain about extortion practices.

2010, Niels A. Uildriks, Mexico's Unrule of Law, page 226:


ankle monitor

A device that individuals under house arrest or parole are often required to wear to track their location.

踝關節監視器 /踝关节监视器

device individuals under house arrest are often required to wear


esclop

We had not been engaged in our reading very long when at the far end of the arch I noticed a twinkling light. "Kool esclop!" shouted one of the boys, at the same moment doucing the glim and bolting with his companion, leaving me in the dark with my upset beer bottle and my douced candle, forming a spectacle which seemed to arouse suspicion on the part of our friend the policeman, whose light it was that had appeared in the distance.

1903 October 9, Rev. Arthur Tappan Pierson, quoting Hogg, Quintin, “Quintin Hogg and the London Polytechnic”, in Missionary Review of the World, volume 26, number 16, page 734:


culeus

From Latin culeus (“large leather sack, punishment of drowning within a sack, unit of bulk liquid measure”), from Ancient Greek κολεός (koleós, “sheath”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cullion and cojones.

bor

(historical, law) A Roman punishment—chiefly for parricide—involving blindfolding, beating, confinement to a leather sack, and drowning in a river or sea.


red ball

* ("high-profile high-priority" sense) From a routing system on the Santa Fe Railroad in the early 1900s. Fast freight trains which were to receive priority routing were marked with placards depicting a red disc, and were called "red ball" trains.

A police-involved shooting is by definition a red ball and, by definition, a red ball requires every warm body.

1991, David Simon, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, →OL:

The only exception to that edict was the Eighth, the French Quarter district, since any homicide at the core of the tourist area was such a potential red ball.

2005, Eileen Dreyer, Sinners and Saints, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, →OL:

(law enforcement, slang, US) A high-profile high-priority case which draws political or media attention.


radar trap

In Rochester, after Kenneth Butters complained about fast driving along Woodbine Avenue, police set up a radar trap and nabbed five speeders, including Butters.

1956 September 10, “Miscellany”, in Time:

He had been allegedly clocked by a mobile radar trap on the M2 at Winston Hills at 120kmh in a 100kmh zone.

2006 December 27, Dylan Welch, “Shots fired at bus and police”, in Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, retrieved 2013-06-03:

A roadside location, manned by police or similar officials, where a device that emits a radar beam is used to monitor the speeds of motor vehicles in order to apprehend motorists in violation of the speed limit.


NPSH

(fluid mechanics) Initialism of net positive suction head.


Det.

(law, law enforcement) Abbreviation of detective.


all-points bulletin

en-noun

all-points bulletin (plural all-points bulletins)

(law enforcement) A broadcast issued from one law enforcement agency to another, typically containing information about a wanted suspect or a person of interest.


OFC

(military, law enforcement) Abbreviation of officer.


Insp

(law enforcement) Abbreviation of inspector.


stop-and-search

Adding to the department's problems is a long-running controversy over a stop-and-search policy that includes random searches of young black men.

1990 January 18, Constance L. Hays, “3 Cases Raise Questions on Boston Police Methods”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-08-20:

The high court renewed its decision to throw out evidence in a 1992 Montgomery County traffic stop-and-search case that uncovered a small amount of marijuana and a methamphetamine pill.

1997 November 13, Rob Modic, “Motorist Must Know "Free to Go"”, in Dayton Daily News, USA, retrieved 2013-08-20:

Both parties support ‘stop and search’ – also known as ‘sus’ laws. Under these laws, the police can stop anyone under ‘reasonable’ suspicion that they could commit a crime.

2008, Simon Assaf, “London mayor elections: Ken and Boris launch a war on young people”, in Socialist Worker, UK, retrieved 2013-08-20:

A U.S. judge has ruled the New York Police Department has violated the rights of tens of thousands of people by intentionally discriminating against racial minorities with its controversial "stop-and-search" policy.

2013 August 12, “US Court says NYPD ‘Stop-and-Search’ Violates Rights”, in Voice of America, retrieved 2013-08-20:

(law, law enforcement) Of or pertaining to laws or policing practices, found in some jurisdictions, which permit a law enforcement officer to temporarily detain and search a member of the public based on the officer's suspicions.


lock someone up and throw away the key

en-verb

lock<> someone up and throw<,,threw,thrown> away the key

lock someone up and throw away the key (third-person singular simple present locks someone up and throws away the key, present participle locking someone up and throwing away the key, simple past locked someone up and threw away the key, past participle locked someone up and thrown away the key)

(idiomatic, informal) To lock someone up in prison indefinitely.


racial profiling

en-noun

racial profiling (usually uncountable, plural racial profilings)

This legislation represents a substantial step toward ending an insidious form of discrimination that is plaguing African-American and Hispanic drivers on our roadways — racial profiling.

1999, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 106th Congress, First Session, vol. 145, part 5, p. 6720 (Google preview)

A recent report on the Ontario government's safe schools policy in the Toronto district school board addressed the issue of racial profilings in the educational system, especially with regard to the disproportionate impact of suspensions and expulsions on racialized students.

2006, Grace-Edward Galabuzi, Canada's Economic Apartheid, →ISBN, page 192:

A special unit of the TSA at Newark Liberty International Airport, trained to detect suspicious behavior, reportedly earned the nickname "Mexican hunters" for racial profiling.

2011 June 15, “Quotes of the Day”, in Time, retrieved 2013-09-10:

A recent campaign by Stockholm police to crack down on illegal immigrants by racial profiling at the city's subway turnstiles has formed the backdrop to a reignited debate about racism.

2013 April 2, Sven Hultberg Carlsson, “Does Sweden have a racial profiling problem?”, in Christian Science Monitor, retrieved 2013-09-10:

Racial profiling is emerging as a flashpoint in Japan as increasing numbers of migrant workers, foreign residents and mixed-race Japanese change the country’s traditionally homogenous society and test deep-seated suspicion toward outsiders.

2024 March 4, Victoria Kim, Hisako Ueno, “Racial Profiling in Japan Is Prevalent but Unseen, Some Residents Say”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(public policy, law enforcement) The practice (usually considered discreditable), by some police and other officials, of treating members of certain racial groups as more likely to be involved in criminal or other antisocial behavior than members of other racial groups.


ITO

(law enforcement) Initialism of information to obtain order.; A search warrant


youth detention centre

youth detention centre (plural youth detention centres)

juvenile delinquents
juvenile delinquent

A secure residential facility for young people, often termed juvenile delinquents, awaiting court hearings and/or placement in long-term care facilities and programs.


chemical engine

chemical engine (plural chemical engines)

(historical, 19th century, firefighting) A large cart-mounted fire extinguisher using caustic chemical-extinguishing chemicals.


fire cabinet

(firefighting) a cabinet filled with firefighting equipment

(firefighting) a wall installation where a firehose and tap is located


fire grenade

(obsolete, 19th century, firefighting) A glass bulb filled with caustic and often carcinogenic liquid chemicals that, when thrown and broken in a fire, smother the fire by removing oxygen.

消火弾

glass bulb filled with fire-extinguishing liquid


fire bucket

Now he rushed to the platform edge carrying a full fire bucket, in a forlorn attempt to douse the flames as the now brightly burning wagon rolled past.

2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

(firefighting) A bucket holding water or sand, etc., used to extinguish fires.


clean chit

clean chit (countable and uncountable, plural clean chits)

(India) A (usually oral) exoneration given by law enforcement agencies to suspects in a crime, likely to be flawed.


escape fire

A fuel-free safe spot, consisting of burning grass as a method of defense against a forest fire.


firie

‘I escaped when the house next door caught fire,’ she continued. ‘[…] The firies got me to a refuge on the other side of the harbour….’

2018, Melissa Lucashenko, Too Much Lip, University of Queensland Press, published 2023, page 238:


firie

en-adj

firie (comparative more firie, superlative most firie)

more firie (comparative)
most firie (superlative)


SHU

administrative segregation

security housing unit or special handling unit

He picked a fight on the yard and got himself put into the SHU the day before my release.

2018, Tayari Jones, An American Marriage, Oneworld Publications, page 200:

security housing unit
security housing unit#English


SCU

solitary confinement
solitary confinement#English

Initialism of solitary confinement unit.


wanted poster

A poster that is distributed to the public, informing them of a person whom the authorities wish to apprehend.


counterfire

en-noun

counterfire (countable and uncountable, plural counterfires)

(firefighting, countable) A smaller fire lit at some distance from a wildfire, in order to develop a firebreak.


counterfire

en-verb

counterfire (third-person singular simple present counterfires, present participle counterfiring, simple past and past participle counterfired)

counterfires (present singular third-person)
counterfiring (participle present)
counterfired (participle past)
counterfired (past)

(firefighting, intransitive) To light a smaller fire at some distance from a wildfire, in order to develop a firebreak.


antinarcotic

en-adj

antinarcotic (comparative more antinarcotic, superlative most antinarcotic)

more antinarcotic (comparative)
most antinarcotic (superlative)

(law enforcement) Opposing or countering narcotics.


ducks and geese

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang


Queen's cowboy

(Canada, slang) A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.


blue meanie

Introduced or popularised by the Beatles film Yellow Submarine (1968).
(police officer): An allusion to the colour of their uniforms.

(slang) Panaeolus cyanescens, a kind of magic mushroom.


thin blue line

By analogy with Thin Red Line. “Blue” refers to the color of the uniforms of many police departments.

“Obviously, you’ve seen caravans with the Trump flag in the back of pickup trucks and then the thin blue line,” Mr. DeMasi, a former police officer, said. “I think maybe people had a good intention, but it ended up giving the meaning of the thin blue line a black eye.”

2020 November 21, Michael Gold, “What Happened When a School District Banned Thin Blue Line Flags”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A flag or symbol representing the police, commonly associated with the blue lives matter movement.


protective custody

A so‐called star witness in the Brooklyn grand jury inquiry of alleged links between the police and gamblers sought unsuccessfully yesterday to free himself from protective custody.

1964 July 25, Alfred E. Clark, “Gambling Witness Under Guard Fails in Move to Gain Freedom”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-06-03:

The government has earmarked a paltry $1.2 million . . ., not enough to properly fund even the state-run counseling centers—the only institutions with the authority to put battered children into protective custody.

1999 June 7, Donald MacIntyre, Hiroko Tashiro, “Hearing Their Cries”, in Time, retrieved 2014-06-03:

Authorities charged a man today with 'arson causing death' after a week of devasting fires that killed a total of more than 180 people in Australia, and whisked him into protective custody to guard him from public fury.

2009 February 13, Tanalee Smith, “Man charged over deadly Australian fire”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-06-03:

(law enforcement) Lawful confinement of a person or close supervision of his or her movements, on a voluntary or involuntary basis, by authorities in order to safeguard that person from attack or other dangers.


live at Her Majesty's pleasure

en-verb

live at Her Majesty's pleasure (third-person singular simple present lives at Her Majesty's pleasure, present participle living at Her Majesty's pleasure, simple past and past participle lived at Her Majesty's pleasure)

lives at Her Majesty's pleasure (present singular third-person)
living at Her Majesty's pleasure (participle present)
lived at Her Majesty's pleasure (participle past)
lived at Her Majesty's pleasure (past)

From the legal phrase at Her Majesty's pleasure.

'I treat patients who are living at Her Majesty's pleasure. They come to the hospital from Full Sutton prison and they are treated in the same way as anyone else.'

1999 January 3, John Arlidge, quoting Professor Alan Roberts, “Yakuza given a helping hand by 'Mr Fingers'”, in The Observer:

I wrote to Charlie Bronson in prison, 'cos Charles sends me letters and amazing drawings; my mate Warwick, who is also banged up, and numerous others living at Her Majesty's pleasure

2003, Dave Courtney, The Ride's Back On, →ISBN, page 174:

The look he gives me makes me realise I've lost him. 'Why would my uncle steal from his own brother for fifteen years? I've never found the reason, but I've heard every single excuse, courtesy of my friends living at Her Majesty's Pleasure.'

2008, Kate Harrison, The Secret Shopper's Revenge, →ISBN:

But the quest to make our jails a less pleasant place in which to live at Her Majesty’s pleasure must never translate into a lack of care, or a slipping of basic standards.

2014 April 25, “Star comment: Youths in prison still need care”, in Shropshire Star (UK):

(UK, colloquial) To spend time in prison or jail.


bizzie

(slang, Liverpool, derogatory) A police officer.


fire main

Cars were first reported loose in hold 3 at 0544, at the same time the captain said it was unsafe to enter hold 3 due to "gear adrift" and "a lot of water." The bilge pumps were already running. If cars were loose by that time, one or more of them could have hit the unprotected inlet piping section of the emergency fire pump, rupturing the piping or damaging the skin valve so that it could not stop seawater from entering the hold. At 0714, the VDR recorded the chief mate reporting that the chief engineer had said that something hit the fire main and "got it ruptured, hard." (The entire fire system, including the emergency fire pump and piping, was known as the fire main.)

2017 December 12, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.4.2 Flooding”, in Marine Accident Report: Sinking of US Cargo Vessel SS El Faro, Atlantic Ocean, Northeast of Acklins and Crooked Island, Bahamas, October 1, 2015, archived from the original on 2022-05-15, page 190:

A pipe conveying water to extinguish a fire.


Okhrana

(historical) A secret police force of the Russian Empire.

Okhrana

(historical) a secret police force of the Russian Empire


backstep

backstep (third-person singular simple present backsteps, present participle backstepping, simple past and past participle backstepped)

backsteps (present singular third-person)
backstepping (participle present)
backstepped (participle past)
backstepped (past)

Le Vau is responsible for the jutting central core, while the wings that backstep so elegantly were designed Hardouin-Mansart.

2001, Giovanna Magi, All Paris, →ISBN, page 122:

To be arranged in steps going backwards.


fire beater

A simple tool for fighting wildfires, consisting of a piece of rubber at the end of a pole.


prison-industrial complex

en-noun

prison–industrial complex (plural prison-industrial complexes)

prison–industrial complex (canonical)
prison-industrial complexes (plural)

By analogy to military-industrial complex. First use appears c. 1960. See cite below.

In Philadelphia, on the other hand, during a day of action against the prison-industrial complex, I saw a lot of cop cars being beaten up,

1960, New Left Review Limited (publisher), New Left Review, page 83:

[…]if we pursue the privatisation of prisons, a large industry will develop. Over the past two or three years many hon. Members have been lobbied by the private prison groups. They are already organised and are paying political consultants and lobbying companies. Some of them have paid Conservative Members—not Labour Members [to lobby for private prisons.¶The prison industrial complex already existed and Conservative Members were taking the King's shilling years ago in respect of that professional lobby.

1992 July 6, Barry Sheerman, “Prisons”, in parliamentary debates (Commons), volume 211, column 125:

[…]that while a person is incarcerated he can't commit a crime or they can't be continued wife abusers or whatever, is exactly the logic that is fueling the prison industrial complex that is going on for many decades, but has now become explosive.

1995 January, John Conyers Jr., “Taking Back Our Streets Act of 1995: Hearing Before The Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary”, in hearings (House of Representatives), Washington D.C.: United States Government Publishing Office, →ISBN, page 575:

The socioeconomic combination of prisons and the private businesses that supply them with goods and services.


blackline

From black + line; compare redline, greenline.

A second squad uses drip torches to begin burning a 15- to 20-foot barrier or “blackline” inside the wetline.

2011, Colorado Outdoors, volumes 49-50, page 11:

The helicopter is used to burn blacklines when the relative humidity is above 50%, temperature is below 50 degrees F, and wind speed is less than 6 mph.

1991, Rangeland Technology Equipment Council Annual Report, USDA Forest Service:

(firefighting) A line of deliberately burned material created to stop the advance of a larger fire.


stovec

I think it is because if a garage get a stovec and no one claims it, they dont^([sic]) get paid, not only that, they have to pay AADL too.

2008 July 16, Chocolate boy, “Re: Heavy Recovery”, in PrisonOfficer.org.uk, retrieved 2014-10-26:

If there's a car on your drive when you get home, and you can't get onto the drive yourself, there's no obstruction as such. However, it would be worth a phone call to the police (non emergency number) as you never know, the car might be an outstanding stovec, in which case we will come, and it will be removed.

2010 March 4, Damsel, “Parked on a private driveway without permission”, in PoliceSpecials.com, archived from the original on 2014-11-22:

(UK, law enforcement) A stolen car, van, lorry or other motor vehicle.


Inspector Knacker

Inspector Knacker (plural Inspector Knackers)

Coined by Private Eye as "Knacker of the Yard", a pun on knacker's yard and the practice of referring to Scotland Yard as the Yard.

You won't be smiling when Inspector Knacker pays you a visit.

However, just before he is discharged, the French ring up Inspector Knacker and say, "Look, I'm sorry we haven't made it in time, but we absolutely promise you that we will get it to you in another 48 hours, so please arrest this man again, as soon as he is discharged".

2003 June 18, Lord Goodhart, “Official Report of the Grand Committee on the Extradition Bill”, in parliamentary debates (House of Lords), column 349:

Reid wants to be top of the cops, issuing orders to Inspector Knackers and James Bonds with criminals and terrorists in his sights.

2007 January 24, the Editor, “Secretary for Public Safety”, in The Mirror:

Please note: Inspector Knacker has been known to query applications by phone in the early hours NZ time, so forewarn your family, friends and flatmates that you are not the subject of an Interpol inquiry.

2008, Georgina Pallfey, Working and Living in New Zealand, page 129:

But, on this occasion, caution wisely stayed his hand and he confined himself to poisoning the Birdas coffee only, reasoning that wiping out an entire Conservative Party Association branch, while desirable from the point of view of most decent folk, might, unfortunately, have the countervailing disadvantage of attracting the attention of Inspector Knacker.

(UK, countable or uncountable) A generic police officer, or the police in general.


SERT

w:Special Emergency Response Team (Queensland)

(law enforcement, Australia, Queensland) Acronym of Special Emergency Response Team.

Special Emergency Response Team
w:Special Emergency Response Team

(law enforcement, Canada) Acronym of Special Emergency Response Team.


PORT

w:Victoria Police Public Order Response Team

(law enforcement in Australia) Abbreviation of Public Order Response Team.


Mossos d'Esquadra

/ˌmɒsəʊz dɪˈskwɑːdɹə/

/ˌməʊsəʊz dɪˈskwɑːdɹə/

Unadapted borrowing from Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra (literally “team officers”).

unadapted borrowing

Coordinate term: Ertzaintza

Although Puigdemont has resisted internal political pressure to now formally declare Catalan independence, he has refused to rule out the move, which would escalate tensions further and could pit the regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, against the thousands of Spanish Guardia Civil and national police officers deployed in Catalonia.

2017 October 22, Sam Jones, “Catalonia weighs up declaration of independence”, in the Guardian:


LPR

en-noun

LPR (countable and uncountable, plural LPRs)

(US, law enforcement) Abbreviation of license plate recognition.


robocop

From robo- + cop, after the film RoboCop (1987).

1990, Library and Information Technology Association (U.S.). National Conference, Michael Gorman, Convergence: Proceedings of the Second National Conference...
As the World Wars were succeeded by the Korean War, which melded into the Vietnam War, science fiction pictured numerous dystopias controlled by means of ever-watchful computer and robocops.

Opposite of natural monsters there are technological monsters such as terminators, cyborgs, and robocops—all of which undermine dichotomies between the artificial and the organic, the prosthetic and the natural.

2010, Tyson E. Lewis, Richard Kahn, Education Out of Bounds, page 1:

(science fiction) A cyborg police officer.


police brutality

The use of excessive, unjustified force, typically of a physical nature, but also including verbal abuse and psychological intimidation, by a police officer while carrying out, or under the cover of carrying out, law enforcement duties.

عنف الشرطة

use of excessive force by a police officer


peace officer

(US, Canada, law enforcement) A civil law enforcement officer with a duty to maintain law and order, i.e., a bylaw officer, a police officer, a sheriff, etc.


bylaw officer

(Canada) An agent of municipal law enforcement responsible for ensuring obedience to the bylaws.


sanctuary city

sanctuary city (plural sanctuary cities)

Regardless of any immediate connections Koch's directive might have had to sanctuary during the 1980s, by the time Congressional representatives were discussing the 1996 immigration reforms, New York City was coming up in policy debates as an example of a sanctuary city that should be targeted for sanctions.

2012, Randy K. Lippert, Sean Rehaag, Sanctuary Practices in International Perspective, page 227:

The president is upset with congressional leaders for slow-rolling his core campaign promise, and for failing to defund sanctuary cities in their spending bill.

2018 March 21, Elaina Plott, “Trump Vents His Anger Over Border-Wall Funding”, in The Atlantic:

Since the late 19th century, when Jane Addams established Hull-House, a social settlement that drew migrants, Chicago has seen itself as an entry point for newcomers, a sanctuary city that welcomes people from the outside.

2023 May 10, Julie Bosman, “Open-Armed Chicago Feels the Strains of a Migrant Influx”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US, Canada) A city that allows undocumented immigrants to live and work without being arrested and deported by local authorities.


police protection

Law enforcement agency tasked to safeguard a community or a person from crime.


end of watch

The date and time at which a police officer was killed while on duty.


Tucker telephone

Tucker telephone (plural Tucker telephones)

Named after the Tucker State Prison Farm, where its inventor Dr. A. E. Rollins worked.

The inmate doctor wired him up on the "Tucker Telephone" with one wire to his penis and another to his big toe.

1992, British Medical Association, quoting Case report: Tucker State Prison Farm, Tucker, Arkansas (1966), Medicine Betrayed: The Participation of Doctors in Human Rights Abuses, Zed Books, page 33:

Although they enjoined the use of the Tucker telephone and similar instruments of torture, they noted that the Department of Corrections had dismissed a number of officials implicated in past violations and had instituted new rules to govern corporal punishment.

2000 March 18, Malcolm M. Feeley with Edward L. Rubin, Judicial Policy Making and the Modern State: How the Courts Reformed America's Prisons, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 57:

A torture device for giving electric shocks, designed using parts from an old-fashioned crank telephone.


police violence

19 December 2014, Paul M Farber in The Guardian Online, Die-ins demand that we bear witness to black people's fears that they'll be next
Convened largely by black youth activists, well-attended marches against police violence in dozens of US cities are convincing displays of growing dissent – but the related acts of urgent public mourning are tools of moral indictment, not just protest. Activists are staging their own deaths because speaking out against systemic racism no longer feels like enough.


photospread

-At trial, officers who administered photospreads present positive identifications as evidence, and witnesses usually testify, too.

2018, Marc H. Bornstein, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development:

A police technique for identifying a person by having a witness select the person's photograph from a group.


Juanita Doe

(US, law, law enforcement) A Latina who is unknown, a Jane Doe of Latin descent.


Juan Doe

(US, law, law enforcement) A Latino male who is unknown, a John Doe of Latin descent.


Bow Street Runner

Bow Street Runner (plural Bow Street Runners)

They were formally affiliated with the magistrate's office in Bow Street, Westminster, London.

(colloquial, historical) A member of an early police force founded in 1742 in London, England.


en-proverb

if you can't do the time, don't do the crime

From do time (“to serve a prison sentence”).

One should not carry out an action if one is unwilling to handle the consequences.


snitch bitch

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-snitch bitch.wav

(prison slang, derogatory) A snitch; one who informs the authorities about another person.


prison ring

A ring worn on the finger and fashioned by hand in a prison, commonly from a celluloid item such as a toothbrush or a pen.


minimum security

A facility or part of a facility with minimal restrictions, designed to hold the least dangerous criminals of society.


maximum security

Younis is now serving 30 years in maximum security.

1990 June, J. Bennett, “Mission improbable”, in Washington Monthly, volume 22, number 5, page 22:

Mike Wallace: (Voiceover) […] They were released straight out of maximum security, solitary confinement, and then dropped off at this small-town bus stop nearby.

1993 December 26, “Crime and Punishment; Building More Prisons and Jails Does Not Seem to Be the Answer to High Rate of Crime in US”, in CBS_Sixty Minutes:

While in maximum security, Glennie has been assaulted four times.

2002 August 26, Kirk Mitchell, “Stuck Inside: Fakers deemed sane are often confined by the state indefinitely”, in Denver Post, page A-01:

...and this is the maximum security level.

c. 2008, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

a prison with more restrictions designed to hold the most dangerous criminals of society; supermax.


jail cell

"Hitler's obsession with cars extended to ordering a new Mercedes from his jail cell in Landsberg prison that picked him up on his release in 1924."

2006, Royals and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany, →ISBN, page 90:

"The issue might never have been resolved had not Charles Manson himself written from his jail cell, "I tend my hand in fellowship and love to the old sonsabitches who put me here, may they rot of cancer.""

"A day after being captured outside his 5,700 square-foot Brentwood estate, football legend O.J. Simpson spent Saturday under suicide watch in a 7-by-9 foot jail cell, where he is being held without bail as prosecutors prepare to seek murder indictments from the County Grand Jury."

1999, O. J. Simpson Facts and Fictions: News Rituals in the Construction of Reality, →ISBN, page 55:

A locked room to incarcerate an inmate in prison.


bullyman

(Australian Aboriginal, slang, derogatory) A police officer.


Magdalene asylum

en-noun

Magdalene asylum (plural Magdalene asylums)

Named after Mary Magdalene, traditionally associated with prostitution and patron saint of penitent sinners.

(historical) A religious prison for prostitutes and unmarried mothers, usually as a source of forced labour.


fingertip search

fingertip search (plural fingertip searches)

Several media liaison officers placed particular emphasis on the use of photo opportunities of elements of the investigation to gain or revive press interest (fingertip searches, house-to-house visits, underwater searches and so on).

1999, Andy Feist, The effective use of the media in serious crime investigations, London: Home Office, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, →ISBN:

Police search teams led by Police Constable Franklin and Police Constable Sawyer conducted a thorough fingertip search of the common approach path of the area surrounding the body and of the area on either side of the approach path.

2004, Lord Brian Hutton, Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons Dated 28th January 2004 for the Report of the Inquiry Into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Dr David Kelly C.M.G., The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 87:

If the crime scene is small enough, SOCOs may carry out a fingertip search for evidence. Kneeling shoulder-to-shoulder and moving forward together, officers search the ground in front of them so that every inch of the crime scene is examined.

2007, Carey Scott, Crime Scene Detective, Dorling Kindersley Ltd, →ISBN, page 9:

(UK) A fastidious forensic search of a crime scene, usually performed by investigators crawling along the ground.


body camera

/ˈbɒdi ˈkæməɹə/

/ˈbɑdi ˈkæməɹə/

How would we ensure that there are common-sense protections and exceptions for law enforcement officers if they are required to wear body cameras? How would privacy considerations for law enforcement, suspects, and the general public be taken into account in instituting the use of body cameras?

2015 May 19, Policing Strategies for the 21st Century: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, First Session, May 19, 2015 (Serial No. 114-29), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Publishing Office, →OCLC, page 120:

The Phoenix Police Department began a body camera study in 2013, funded under the Bureau of Justice Assistance Smart Policing Initiative.

2016, Larry J. Siegel, John L[ambert] Worrall, “The Police: Organization, Role, and Function”, in Introduction to Criminal Justice, 16th edition, Boston, Mass.: Cengage Learning, →ISBN, part 2 (The Police and Law Enforcement), page 213:

The untallied but growing number of people wearing body cameras now includes not just police but also hospital workers and others who aren’t law enforcement officers.

2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-06-14:

Virgin Trains is to equip station and onboard staff with 250 more body cameras, in a bid to further reduce assaults on its staff.

A video recording system worn on the body, typically used by law enforcement officers to record their interactions with the public, and gather video evidence at crime scenes.


ALPR

California-based Vigilant […] has partnered with a range of governments in Texas, California, and Georgia to provide their police with a suite of ALPR systems to use on patrol, along with access to Vigilant's database.

2021, Kate Crawford, chapter 6, in Atlas of AI […] , →ISBN:

(US, law enforcement) Initialism of automated/automatic license plate recognition.

(US, law enforcement) Initialism of automated/automatic license plate reader.


water tender

A specialized firefighting apparatus designed for transporting water from a water source, such as a lake or hydrant, to a fire scene.


bodycam

I'll wear a bodycam – a copcam, which I'll have to get from the SPD.

2017, Bharti Kirchner, Season of Sacrifice: First in a new Seattle-based mystery series:

The use of bodycams has been mooted for years and the English FA was given permission by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that determines the rules of the game, to begin a trial in February.

2023 April 4, Philip Buckingham, “‘The ref’s got a camera on’ – the bodycams being used to keep officials safe”, in The New York Times:

(chiefly law enforcement) A body camera.


general population

general population (plural general populations)

solitary confinement
solitary confinement

The main body of inmates in a prison, excluding those being detained in solitary confinement, protective custody, a medical wing or on death row.


county brownie

Named for their brown uniforms and cars.


Johnny Hopper

(UK, Cockney rhyming slang) A police officer.


no human involved

He was not working with what the police facetiously call a no-humans-involved case, where everyone involved whether as witness or suspect already has a substantial criminal record.

2003, John Lescroart, chapter 37, in The Oath:

Cops closed them all with a code: NHI. The unsolved crimes had been back-burnered until a reporter revealed that the letters stamped on the police files were shorthand for No Human Involved.

2008, Linda Fairstein, Killer Heat, page 191:

I remembered Ed's offensive remark—“No human involved in that first murder anyway”—and tried to keep the disdain off my face.

2010, Martha C. Lawrence, Pisces Rising, page 33:

“NHI-No Human Involved,” the cops used to say. It was only the newest shorthand for the idea that murders of blacks somehow didn't count. “Nigger life's cheap now,” a white Tennessean offered during Reconstruction, […]

2015, Jill Leovy, Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, One World/Ballantine, →ISBN, page 6:

Wynter's earlier example is a demonstration of the discourse of “no human involved” and shows that young Black men in zones of police surveillance are denied humanity in order to excuse the inexcusable violence enacted upon them.

2020, Sara Smith, Political Geography: A Critical Introduction, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 63:

(law enforcement slang, derogatory) Describing crimes committed against people deemed undesirable or subhuman, e.g., those with criminal records, sex workers, drug addicts, transients, or people of color.


KA

(slang, law enforcement) Initialism of known associate.


Maze

* As an English surname, variant of Mays.
* As an English and Irish surname, variant of Maye, from Irish Ó Miadhaigh (“descendant of Miadhach”), see miadh (“esteem, respect”). Compare May.
* As a Breton surname Mazé, shortened from Mazéo, Breton form of Matthew.
* As a French surname Mazé, from a place in Maine-et-Loire, from Latin Masiacum (“estate of Masius”).
* Also as a French surname, shortened pet form of Thomas.
* Also as a French surname, variant of Mas, from the noun mas (“farmhouse”).
* As a Slovene surname, shortened from Tomaž, a form of Thomas. Or, from the verb mazati (“to grease”).
* As an Ashkenazic Jewish surname, from Hebrew מאז"ה (Mazeh), an acronym of מִזֶּרַע אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן (mi-zéra' Aharón ha-Kohén, “from the seed of Aaron the priest”), compare Cohen.

der

Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland#English

HM Prison Maze, a former prison in Northern Ireland.


PCG

Philippine Coast Guard
w:Philippine Coast Guard

(Philippines, law enforcement, nautical) Initialism of Philippine Coast Guard.


brass ceiling

brass (“indicating high-ranking officers”) + ceiling (“suggesting a barrier to upward advancement”)

2004, Dorothy Moses Schulz, Breaking the Brass Ceiling: Women Police Chiefs and Their Paths to the Top, Greenwood Publishing, →ISBN:

2007, Breaking Through the Brass Ceiling: Elite Military Women's Strategies for Success, ProQuest., →ISBN:

(idiomatic) An unwritten, uncodified barrier to promotion or progression for women in law enforcement or the military.


gravel road cop

en-noun

gravel road cop (plural gravel road cops)

Humorous reinterpretation of French GRC (Gendarmerie Royale du Canada), in reference to the remote rural areas where such people often work.

(Canada, slang) An officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.


firehall

Now there are four in the firehall around the clock.

2009 February 18, Carola Vyhnak, “Volunteer firefighters filled a burning need”, in Toronto Star:

Alternative form of fire hall (“fire station”)


Terry stop

From the legal case Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), in which the Supreme Court held that police may briefly detain a person who they reasonably suspect is involved in criminal activity.

(US, law enforcement) The brief detention of a person by the police on reasonable suspicion of involvement in criminal activity but short of probable cause to arrest.


Terry search

(US, law enforcement) A search carried out by the police during a Terry stop.


state police

state police (usually uncountable, plural state polices)

(US, Australia, law enforcement) The police force belonging to the state (subnational) government, as contrasted with federal, county, or municipal law enforcement.

Staatspolizei

police force belonging to the state government


decomp

Shortening of decomposition or decomposed.

There's no decomp, so the body can't have been there long.

"It's a decomp. There's gonna be maggots, and that means I'm gonna have nightmares."

2007, John Leake, Entering Hades: The Double Life of a Serial Killer:

"It helped ventilate the place, especially when he had a decomp case. The coroner's offices were pitifully outdated."

(law enforcement, slang) A decomposed body.


decomp

en-verb

decomp (third-person singular simple present decomps, present participle decomping, simple past and past participle decomped)

decomps (present singular third-person)
decomping (participle present)
decomped (participle past)
decomped (past)

(intransitive, law enforcement, slang, uncommon) To decompose.


shots fired

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: (especially law enforcement) indicates that a firearm has been discharged in the vicinity of the speaker.


officer-involved

There has been an increase in dissatisfaction with the police from African-American communities due to many recently publicized officer-involved use of force incidents on unarmed African-Americans in the United States.

2019, John Pilz, Finding Shared Understanding between African Americans and the Police through Simulated Experiences, Dorrance Publishing, →ISBN, page 115:

(chiefly of a shooting, euphemistic) Committed by a police officer.


cryoprison

(science fiction) A prison whose inmates are cryogenically frozen for the duration of their sentences.


person of interest

en-noun

person of interest (plural persons of interest or people of interest)

persons of interest (plural)
people of interest (plural)

Tice denies involvement in any conspiracy. . . . Still, Morgan says Tice and "three or four other people" remain "persons of interest" in the investigation.

2009 August 22, Tim Padgett, “The Pensacola Adoptive Couple's Murder: A Hit?”, in Time, retrieved 2015-11-19:

Abdellatif has been interviewed five times by Australian security services since the dropping of the charges and remains a "person of interest" to the federal police.

2013 September 26, “Sayed Abdellatif inquiry will report to Tony Abbott, who called him a 'jihadist'”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2015-11-19:

The 19-year-old man from a Phoenix suburb who was detained on Friday at a convenience store near Interstate 10 is a person of interest, but Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, declined to say what had led the police to question the man.

2015 September 12, “Police Rule Out Detained Man, 19, as Prime Suspect in Phoenix Freeway Shootings”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-11-19:

(law enforcement, chiefly Canada, US) Someone who police have reason to believe may have a connection to a crime, or to possess important information relating to that crime, but who has not been accused or charged by authorities nor been officially deemed to be a suspect.

persoa de interese

someone believed to have a connection to a crime or to possess important information relating to that crime

bűncselekménnyel összefüggésbe hozható személy


CDI factor

You don't buy a LaRue because you want lightweight. You buy it for the durability (And the CDI factor)

2007, Patrick Sweeney, The Gun Digest Book of the AR-15, Volume 2, Gun Digest Books, page 109:

Instead of donning their equipment for the right reasons, with the understanding that it takes thousands of hours to attain a basic skill level, some Special Operations soldiers wear their gear for the CDI (chicks dig it) factor and forget the reality that this is hard work.

2011, Paul R. Howe, Leadership and Training for the Fight: Using Special Operations Principles to Succeed in Law Enforcement, Business, and War, Skyhorse Publishing, page 12:

'Never decide Pattern A just looks cooler than Pattern B. The Marine Corps call that a "CDI factor" – chicks dig it,' said Timothy O'Neill, a former professor of engineering psychology at West Point who has spent 37 years concocting and analyzing the latest in military camouflage

2012 July 17, “Uncloaked: How Army is testing new camo to replace flawed design”, in NBC News:

[…] SWAT is a highly-specialized skill that takes recurrent (and expensive) training to maintain. Simply kitting out police officers in high-CDI-factor equipment is not enough.

2015, David G. Bolgiano, L. Morgan Banks, III, James M. Patterson, Virtuous Policing: Bridging America's Gulf Between Police and Populace, CRC Press, page 89:

(US military or law enforcement slang) An intangible quality of certain items of professional equipment that is believed to stir inordinate interest in obtaining the item because it makes the possessor feel confident, cool and thus desirable to women.


DHP

(law enforcement, terrorism, politics) Initialism of deemed high-profile.


beatsman

Police authorities are similarly aware that motor cars and wireless and infra-red photography and photo-telegraphy will not avail in the crime war without the familiar, slow-moving beatsman as the broad base of the whole organisation.

1948, The Spectator, volume 180, page 730:

(dated, rare) A policeman who walks the beat.


SFO

(UK, New Zealand) Initialism of Serious Fraud Office.

I emerge out of the tunnel into the pale glow of SFO, the spinning wheels and striding shoes and TV news on low, toddlers screaming with joy or pain, the overlapping echo of flight announcements.

2022, Namwali Serpell, The Furrows, Hogarth, page 232:

San Francisco International Airport
w:San Francisco International Airport

Abbreviation of San Francisco International Airport.


fire lane

firefighting apparatus
firefighting apparatus

(US) A passageway or access road that allows a firefighting apparatus such as a fire engine to pass through.

消防通道

passageway that allows a fire engine to pass through


deass

en-verb

deass (third-person singular simple present deasses, present participle deassing, simple past and past participle deassed)

deasses (present singular third-person)
deassing (participle present)
deassed (participle past)
deassed (past)

(transitive, US, military, law enforcement, slang) To exit or depart from (an area) rapidly.


summon auntie

using the pronunciation of saman in Malay

Compound noun formed with the English word summon (see summons, noun) and auntie (“term of familiarity or respect applied to elderly women”).

Summon Auntie is a Singlish phrase that describes meter attendants, usually middle-aged women, who give parking fines to cars that are illegally parked

2011 October 18, Willis Wee, “iPhone App Spots Parking Meter Attendants in Singapore”, in Tech in Asia, retrieved 2016-03-28:

‘Summon auntie’ chases off bikini-clad sunbathers at Redhill car park. A video of a female car park attendant chasing off two bikini-clad girls sunbathing at the top of a multi-storey car park in Redhill has gotten people talking.

2013 October 3, Azilah, “‘Summon auntie’ chases off bikini-clad sunbathers at Redhill car park”, in Yahoo! News, retrieved 2016-03-28:

The New Paper recently wrote a story on Feb. 4 about the plight of parking enforcement officers, also known as parking wardens or summon aunties

2014 February 5, Belmont Lay, “This Will Convince Everybody Why No One Should Ever Become a Summon Auntie”, in mothership.sg, retrieved 2016-03-28:

Take, for instance, the summon auntie who dishes out fines to cars parked illegally - she's someone everyone recognizes

2015 July 10, Lim Min Zhang, The Straits Times::

(Singapore, colloquial, informal) A parking enforcement officer who goes around public parking spaces to issue parking tickets to illegally parked cars


ACAB

Having a tattoo or a bomberjack with the text '1312' or 'ACAB' (All Cops Are Bastards).

2015, Thomas Bustamante, Christian Dahlman, Argument Types and Fallacies in Legal Argumentation, →ISBN, page 70:

One group is simply called 'ACAB'; the other is called 'Visitors 1312'. The latter was formed from the amalgamation of two groups, '1312' and 'Visitors'. '1312' is significant because it refers to the numerical positions in the alphabet of the letters comprising 'ACAB'.

2015, Mark Doidge, Football Italia: Italian Football in an Age of Globalization, →ISBN, page 174:

(derogatory) Acronym of all cops are bastards: an anti-police slogan protesting against police behavior, often used in graffiti, tattoos, and other imagery.


CBP

BATF

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

CBP continues to find ways to improve the entry process through the use of mobile technology to ensure it is safe and efficient. To that end, CBP has deployed a process which allows travelers to use a mobile app to submit information to CBP prior to arrival in domestic locations and prior to departure at preclearance locations. This process, called Mobile Passport Control (MPC) allows travelers to self-segment upon arrival into the United States or departing a preclearance location.

2023 October 27, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of Existing Collection; U.S. Customs Declaration (CBP Form 6059B)”, in Federal Register, Document Number 2023-23783, pages 73867-73868:

(US law enforcement) Initialism of Customs and Border Protection.

USCBP

United States Customs and Border Protection


Smokey Bear

From an ad campaign first introduced in 1944 by Foote, Cone and Belding in cooperation with the Forest Service and the Ad Council. The name was was inspired by “Smokey” Joe Martin, a New York City Fire Department hero who suffered burns and blindness during a bold 1922 rescue. (Later, in 1950, an actual burned black bear cub was named Smokey and took on this symbolic role.)

1994 marks the 50th anniversary of Smokey Bear, the world renowned symbol of forest fire prevention.

1995, United States Forest Service Washington Office, Forest Service video library catalog, page 14:

Bambi was released in 1942, and two years later the Smokey Bear campaign to reduce forest fires began.

2009, Jon Nelson, Quetico: Near to Nature's Heart, →ISBN, page 209:

Smokey Bear is a perfect example of how an advertising campaign can impact the public's perception of fire.

2009, John Robert Weir, Conducting Prescribed Fires: A Comprehensive Manual, →ISBN, page 22:

A fictional bear dressed as a ranger who acts as a symbol of forest fire prevention, with the slogan "Only you can prevent forest fires."


Smokey Bear

There are laws on the books now, and the Smokey Bears Afloat are enforcing them.

Stan allowed as how last month that the driver, Joe Bob, had "punched out a Smokey Bear in that county and so for the next month or so we need to route him around DeKalb county as the Smokey Bears were still a-swarmin and looking for him."

2003, Robert E. D. Woolsey, Richard Lovell Hewitt, Real World Operations Research: The Woolsey Papers, page 87:

We were moving along at a fast clip, when Henson yelled, "Slow down, I see some blue lights flashing. Smokey Bear has got somebody!"

2004, Jackie Paxton, Lost in the 70s, →ISBN, page 75:

A policeman, especially a highway patrol officer.

The Forest Service PR campaign now in high gear. Smokey Bears all over the place, giving talks to Rotary, Kiwanis, Chamber, Junior Chamber, Legion, hunters, fishermen, Grange, ...

Apparently a fellow running a trapline accidentally caught a marten, which is still a protected species though slowly increasing in numbers. The marten was turned over to the Smokey Bears so that, at least, it could be stuffed and displayed in the Voyageurs Park museum.

1980, National Parks & Conservation Magazine, page 1:

God damn stupid fucking green-and-gray Smokey Bears. Rangers. Telling John Q. Public not to litter and to be sure and hold hands with your buddy on the scary paths.

A ranger or park service employee that deals with the public.

There were two of them— a man and a woman wearing neat Smokey Bears.

1989, J. Edward Ames, Spellcaster, →ISBN, page 160:

They swaggered around in their Smokey Bears, as if a felt hat would intimidate a short-fused grenade.

2011, Robert Buettner, Orphanage: Jason Wander series - Book 1, →ISBN:

He stood with feet splayed, fists resting on his hips as he stared at us from beneath the brim of his Smokey Bear.

2013, Glenn Starkey, Amazon Moon, →ISBN, page 36:

A few minutes later, I saw two old gunnery sergeants sashaying towards us, wearing shooting jackets and campaign hats! As soon as I saw these Smokey Bears bobbing over to us, I figured this could be some show.

2014, Charles Stronge, Sniper in Action: History, Equipment, Techniques, →ISBN:

No Smokey Bears: You can't shoot something you can't see. The Air Force in Viet Nam has special teams that blast away tree leaves and other shrubbery beside canals that offer hiding places for the Viet Cong. The motto of these defoliation teams: "Only you can prevent forests."

1966, The Conservationist - Volumes 21-22, page 34:

Aircraft used to spread Agent Orange and other defoliants were known as Smokey Bears.

2007, America, History and Life - Volume 44, Issue 3, page 660:

(military slang) An aircraft used to drop defoliants in the Vietnam War.


handcrew

A team of firefighters responsible for constructing firelines.


lathicharge

The alleged desecration of an ancient temple in Jammu triggered violence as protesters from right-wing groups torched vehicles and threw stones at cops who responded with lathicharge and teargas shells late on Tuesday night.

2016 June 18, “Mobile internet services restored in Jammu”, in The Times of India:

(India) The police tactic of charging a crowd with lathis or batons in order to disperse it.


FAST

Coined in recognition of the word fast, e.g. (medical sense) describing the need for speedy diagnosis and treatment.

cerebrovascular accident
cerebrovascular accident#English

(medicine, pathology) Acronym of facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time. A mnemonic for diagnosing a cerebrovascular accident (“CVA”) or stroke.


active shooter

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-active shooter.wav

The sense “individual engaged in a shooting spree” was popularized in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre (1999).

In most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.

“When you have an active shooter going after people at random—a shooter with a plan,” he said, “that's completely different than your typical barricade hostage situation.”

1999 April 28, Timothy Egan, quoting Larry Glick, “School Attack May Bring Changes in Police Tactics”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Today, the sound of gunshots often prompts “active shooter” warnings on social media, whether or not the event fits the F.B.I.’s definition of the term. In many cases, reports of active shooters have turned out to be false.

2021 May 5, Jacey Fortin, “What Does ‘Active Shooter’ Really Mean?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US, military, law enforcement) A person actively engaged in a shooting spree.


FinCEN

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
w:Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

(US) Abbreviation of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.


hoseman

A firefighter who carries and directs the hose.


RTC

(UK, emergency services) Initialism of road traffic collision.


contract system

en-noun

contract system (plural contract systems)

(law enforcement) The system of selling the labor of convicts to a contractor, who provides the necessary materials and supervises the work in the premises of the prison.


CHiP

An officer of the California Highway Patrol.


FDNY

“It was one of the most severe beatings they’ve seen on tape,” an FDNY insider said, recalling the reaction by brass who viewed video of the bloody fisticuffs.

2018 August 18, Susan Edelman, New York Post:

Initialism of Fire Department of New York.


Abbot's Priory

After Charles Abbott, Lord Chief Justice from 1818 to 1832.

[…] after this lady’s retirement to enjoy the otium cum dignitate [leisure with dignity] in Abbot’s Priory, she was visited by a gentleman who had previously and subsequently rendered her the most unequivocal and disinterested assistance, by frequent pecuniary supplies.

1822, Benchiana; or, Sketches of Life and Character in St. George’s Fields […], page 18:

Upon inquiring after George Charteris, Esq. he finds that he has bolted from Palace-yard, and taken refuge in “Abbot’s Priory;” and, to comfort him, the person who has received the 200l. bill, informs him “that Charteris is a notorious swindler.”

1824, “An Accommodating Customer ‘Queered’”, in The Spirit of the Public Journals, for the Year M.DCCC.XXIII […], page 65:

Ned and Tom were soon outside of the King’s Bench, (or Abbot’s Priory, as it was called by the prisoners,) they had not walked far before they fell in with Little Kiam […]

1825, The Dialogists; or, the Circuit of Banco Regis, page 93:

(obsolete, British slang, idiomatic) King's Bench Prison, a former prison in the south of London.


Swedish model

The combating of prostitution by criminalizing the buyer, rather than the seller, of sexual services.


RFX

(security, law enforcement) Abbreviation of recognition of firearms and explosives. (a skill and qualification)


jailmate

An acquaintance in prison; a person imprisoned at the same time.


public enemy number one

John Dillinger, America's Public Enemy No. 1 and the most notorious criminal of recent times, was shot and killed at 10:40 o'clock tonight by Federal agents.

1934 July 22, “Dillinger Slain in Chicago”, in New York Times, retrieved 2016-10-26, page 1:

"Sure you never heard of him?" he asked incredulously. "Never," I said flatly. "You must have," he argued. "Why Hamilton was a Public Enemy No. 1 at one time."

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 119:

(US, law enforcement, dated) A person who ranks highest on the federal government's prioritized list of wanted criminal fugitives.


prisoner-of-war camp

prisoner-of-war camp (plural prisoner-of-war camps)

A camp in which prisoners of war are interned.


prison camp

A camp in which either prisoners of war or political prisoners are interned.


Chekist

From Russian чеки́ст (čekíst) from Чека́ (Čeká) + -ист (-ist).

intelligence agencies
intelligence agencies

(by extension, metonymically) A national security official of the KGB, FSB or any of the state security intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union or Russian Federation.


confidential informant

confidential informant (plural confidential informants)

(law, law enforcement, criminology) An individual who secretly provides information to the police about wrongdoing which they are aware of due to the individual's relationship to the wrongdoer.

indic

person who secretly provides information to the police


reeducation camp

reeducation camp (plural reeducation camps)

From reeducation + camp. First use appears c. 1935 in the Oakland Tribune.

Although the Socialist Republic of Vietnam now encourages Vietnamese refugees to visit their native land, many refuse to do so, fearing that [...] they would be hustled off to reeducation camps to face starvation, over-work, and slow death.

1989, James Freeman, Hearts of Sorrow: Vietnamese-American Lives, page 11:

(euphemistic) A camp or prison where ideological dissidents undergo reeducation or indoctrination.

再教育營 /再教育营

camp where dissidents undergo reeducation

By degrees the seriously wounded were concentrated in this hospital, which remained open till 1919, and the discharged drafted to a Belgian reeducation camp in France.

1922, “Women's War Work”, in Hugh Chisolm, editor, The Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 32, page 1064:

(dated) A camp where people are rehabilitated to health, especially after injury.


queer ken

From queer (“weird; odd”) + ken (“house”).

Fact is, / she’ll end up in the charpering carsey / of Jennifer Justice. What is this / queer ken she’s in?

2015 October 12, Adam Lowe, “Poem of the week: Vada That”, in The Guardian:

(dated, UK, thieves' cant and Polari) A prison.


decrime

en-verb

decrime (third-person singular simple present decrimes, present participle decriming, simple past and past participle decrimed)

decrimes (present singular third-person)
decriming (participle present)
decrimed (participle past)
decrimed (past)

(law enforcement) To remove the criminal status of a reported crime, typically due to insufficient evidence or to artificially reduce crime statistics


juvy

en-noun

juvy (countable and uncountable, plural juvies)

From juvenile + -y with elision; morphologically analogous to bougie = bourgeoisie + -ie/-y.


spit hood

(law enforcement) A head restraint intended to prevent spitting and biting.


Wilson Doctrine

After Harold Wilson, British politician who established the rule.

The convention in the United Kingdom that restricts the police and intelligence services from tapping the telephones of Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.


Like 911, 119, etc., selected as a number both fast and easy to call from rotary or touch-tone phones and less likely to be mistakenly dialed.

The telephone number for emergency services in Iran.

110 handles police emergencies in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea but fires and medical emergencies have a separate number, 119.

The telephone number for law enforcement in China, Japan, Germany, Indonesia, Latvia, Bolivia, Guatamala, Andorra, Nauru, and the Ivory Coast and on Taiwan.

The telephone number for ambulance services in Jamaica, Syria, and Sri Lanka.

The telephone number for firefighting assistance in Norway, Jamaica, Suriname, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Papua New Guinea.


The telephone number for law enforcement in Jamaica, Mozambique, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

The telephone number for COVID-19 emergencies in the United Kingdom's Home Counties.


slicktop

(US, Canada, law enforcement, informal) a police car with painted markings and decals but no external rooftop lights.


identity parade

identity parade (plural identity parades)

He moved through the circle and sat down on Cost’s left like a criminal taking his place in an identity parade.

1943, Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear, London: Heinemann, published 1950, Book 1, Chapter 4, p. 61:

‘I deny it, I utterly deny it, my movements were those I’ve given you.’
‘Yet you refuse to take part in an identity parade?’

1984, Alan Hunter, chapter 6, in The Unhanged Man, New York: Walker, pages 87–88:

(UK, Ireland, law enforcement) A process by which a witness confirms the identity of a criminal suspect, by viewing the suspect together with other people who were not involved in the crime.


squad room

A room in a police station where officers congregate


all-ports warning

all-ports warning (plural all-ports warnings)

(UK, law enforcement) A form of all-points bulletin circulated to international ports so that a fleeing suspect can be identified and apprehended.


fireman's flap

(slang) The flap for defecation in a union suit.


snatch squad

There have been numerous reports of snatch squads detaining men on the street and drafting them into the army.

2022 September 19, Luke Harding, “Russia no longer has full control of Luhansk as Ukraine recaptures village”, in The Guardian:

(UK) A group of police officers who rush forward in formation so as to apprehend an individual from a crowd.


go equipped

en-verb

go equipped (third-person singular simple present goes equipped, present participle going equipped, simple past went equipped, past participle gone equipped)

goes equipped (present singular third-person)
going equipped (participle present)
went equipped (past)
gone equipped (participle past)

From the heading of section 25 of the Theft Act 1968: "Going equipped for stealing, etc."

Would I go equipped? You can get a stiff sentence for that! I've got a couple of skeleton keys, I don't deny, but I hope we won't need them. There are other ways.

1997, Claire Rayner, Fifth Member (George Barnabas; 4):

They were allegedly carrying cable cutters and a hammer when they were arrested and could face up to 10 years in prison if deemed to have "gone equipped" to commit an offence at the base.

2006 June 1, “Base trespass suspects rearrested”, in BBC News:

A Scotland Yard spokesman said three arrests were for public order offences, one was for possession of an offensive weapon, three were for going equipped and 12 breaches of the peace.

2011 November 9, “Thousands march in student fees protest”, in The Independent:

All had admitted conspiracy to burgle and Talbot also admitted going equipped to burgle and Eldred a breach of a conditional discharge.

2017 February 8, Ian Proctor, “JAILED: Burglars who went equipped with tools, disguises and homemade swag bags”, in The Lancashire Telegraph:

(UK, law and law enforcement, intransitive) To carry tools, weapons or other articles with the intent of using them to commit a crime.


From the initialism ACAB with the letters substituted with their position in the alphabet.

(See title)

2007 December 16, MI5-V...@mi5.gov.uk, “MI5-Persecution: How Could It Be True? (1312)”, in alt.fan.george-michael (Usenet):

....anonymous member of anti-police-brutality activist group the 1312 Project - shorthand for "All Cops Are....

2015 September 18, _ G O D _, “Police Brutality California Style : It Takes 9 Stockton Officers To Arrest 1 Teen For Jaywalking [VIDEO]”, in alt.revisionism (Usenet):

Having a tattoo or a bomberjack with the text '1312' or 'ACAB' (All Cops Are Bastards).

2015, Thomas Bustamante, Christian Dahlman, Argument Types and Fallacies in Legal Argumentation, →ISBN, page 70:

One group is simply called 'ACAB'; the other is called 'Visitors 1312'. The latter was formed from the amalgamation of two groups, '1312' and 'Visitors'. '1312' is significant because it refers to the numerical positions in the alphabet of the letters comprising 'ACAB'.

2015, Mark Doidge, Football Italia: Italian Football in an Age of Globalization, →ISBN, page 174:

Synonym of ACAB (“all cops are bastards”).


leper colony

Popularized during the period of New Imperialism, when leprosy was largely absent in Europe but seen as a growing threat in its colonial empires.

An isolated community used to house lepers, usually in permanent quarantine from the rest of society.

melaatse kolonie

isolated community of lepers — see also leprosery


kotong cop

From Tagalog kotong (“bribery & extortion; corrupt”) + cop.

compound

(Philippines, derogatory, informal) a police officer involved in kotong (bribery and extortion); a corrupt police officer


ninja cop

After their ability to climb the perimeter fences of warehouses where the confiscated drugs are stored.

These 'ninja cops,' explained Carlos, are legitimate cops who are part of the operating group of the anti-illicit drugs campaign, but conduct illegal activities like reselling of the contraband

2016 July 7, Trishia Billones, “Top policemen linked to drugs face probe over 'ninja cops'”, in ABS-CBN News, ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs:

Police officers who are part of an anti-drugs operating group but conduct illegal activities like reselling of the contraband have been dubbed as “ninja cops.”

2016 August 11, Tetch Torres-Tupas, “‘Ninja cops’ unmasked, charged with selling illegal drugs”, in Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer:

2018 August 17, Pia Ranada, “Duterte dangles P5M for dead 'ninja cops,' only P10k if caught alive”, in Rappler, Rappler:

2019 September 26, Azer Parrocha, “'Ninja cop' syndicate ‘a thing of the past’: Palace”, in Philippine News Agency:

2019 October 3, Eimor Santos, “Senate orders detention of ‘ninja cop’ for contempt”, in CNN Philippines, archived from the original on 2019-10-13:

(Philippines, informal) A police officer involved in the illicit resale of confiscated illegal drugs.


PDEA

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
w:Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency

(Philippines, law enforcement) Acronym of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.


NBI

Coordinate term: FBI

National Bureau of Investigation#English

(Philippines, law enforcement) Initialism of National Bureau of Investigation.


FIR

en-noun

FIR (countable and uncountable, plural FIRs)

first information report
w:first information report

(South Asia, Singapore, law enforcement) Initialism of first information report.


military prison

military prison (plural military prisons)


drop tank

(firefighting) A portable tank used at the scene of a fire to hold water from the fire engine.


grass-eater

Calque of Japanese 草食系男子 (sōshokukei danshi, “herbivorous/grass-eating male”).

calque

That is what the modern men of Japan have done, these grass-eaters.

2011 March 17, Paul Mceuen, Spiral, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

The grass-eaters fail to maintain a 'manly' appearance, snared instead by the world of cosmetics and fashion which makes them look soft, 'fragile and girlie' ([…]).

2016 July 1, Genaro Castro-Vazquez, Intimacy and Reproduction in Contemporary Japan (Routledge Research on Gender in Asia Series), Routledge, →ISBN, page 62:

She dubbed them “herbivore men” (shoshoku danshi) in a 2006 article, and the phrase caught on as the nation took note of the gentle grass-eaters. Their lesser-known counterparts are the “carnivore women” (nikushoku joshi) who take the initiative in life and love.

2016 November 14, Kittredge Cherry, Womansword: What Japanese Words Say About Women, Stone Bridge Press, →ISBN, →OCLC:

(derogatory, slang) A celibate man, especially a Japanese man, who eschews dating and sexual relationships.


meatwagon

'Meatwagon is here,' Warren said as the ambulance pulled up with only one headlight and a smashed grill.

1990, Robert Henry, No man alone, page 110:

He gets the walk-ins, I drive the meatwagon and fetch home the ones like you.

2001, David Drake, Ranks of Bronze, →ISBN:

'Goddamn, Sollie...hold on brother. Meatwagon's comin'!'

2009, Red Edit Red, City Smells, →ISBN, page 18:

Alternative form of meat wagon
An ambulance.

Unmarked vehicles usually meant federal intervention. And if it didn't belong in federal interdiction, then it might be a Mafia meatwagon, which was a far worse circumstance.

2010, Joseph Armstead, Krymsin Nocturnes, →ISBN, page 228:

Get them off the door and into a meatwagon. They're almost certainly involved.

2012, Pat W Hendersen, Club, →ISBN, page 201:

We were handcuffed to each other, then bundled into a meatwagon for the journey across Madrid to the Carabanchel prison.

2012, Christopher Chance, The Lone Brit on 13: A Prisoner's Hell in Spain's Toughest Jail, →ISBN:

And when he started demanding an explanation, one of them radioed someone, and there was this meatwagon and about twelve more policeman– all in full bulletproof riot gear, truncheons and helmets– came pouring out. But there was already about ten policeman there, so in all there were about twenty-five policemen all manhandling Peter into this meatwagon, and the rest of them just stood there.

2014, Spencer Honniball, Beg, Steal or Borrow: The Official Baby Shambles Story, →ISBN:

A police vehicle for transporting prisoners.


tiller truck

From tiller + truck. From having rear-wheel steering similar to a boat's tiller, on the truck.

A type of firetruck, an aerial ladder truck that is articulated with a tillerman's position to steer the rear of the trailer into tight spaces.


susp

(law enforcement) Abbreviation of suspect.


decarceration

en-noun

decarceration (countable and uncountable, plural decarcerations)

/diːˌkɑː.səˈɹeɪʃən/

/diːˌkɑɹ.səˈɹeɪʃən/

Modeled on incarceration, replacing the prefix with de-.

Whereas rates of COVID-19 vary nationwide, our results add to a growing body of literature emphasizing high COVID-19 rates in carceral settings and the importance of testing and decarceration.

2020 August 21, Jiménez, M. C. et al., “Epidemiology of COVID-19 among incarcerated individuals and staff in Massachusetts jails and prisons”, in JAMA, →DOI:

A policy of reducing the amount of imprisoned people in a given population.


decarcerate

en-verb

decarcerate (third-person singular simple present decarcerates, present participle decarcerating, simple past and past participle decarcerated)

decarcerates (present singular third-person)
decarcerating (participle present)
decarcerated (participle past)
decarcerated (past)

Modeled on incarcerate, replacing the prefix with de-.

Refusing to decarcerate and now increasing spending on policing that will drive the shuttling of even more Americans into jails and prisons is especially perverse given the recent attention paid to the worsening conditions of confinement and the mistreatment of the incarcerated.

2022 January 25, Eric Reinhardt, “How Joe Biden Launched a New Prison Boom”, in Slate:

To implement a policy of decarceration; to reduce prison populations.


plainclotheswoman

Coordinate term: plainclothesman

A female police officer (especially a detective) who wears civilian clothes when on duty.


armed police

A member of the People's Armed Police of China.


buzzie

Dredging wasn't mining. A man had to know something about lode mining, and could Andy name a man working on the boat who knew a muckstick from a buzzie?

1950, Helen Rich, The Willow-bender: A Novel, page 236:

Both buzzies were broke down. Burke left me alone to do my work. I disconnected teh compressed-air lines, opened my tool box and got at it.

1980, Donald McCaig, The Butte Polka: A Novel, page 114:

Technology such as steam-powered hoists and "buzzies," hand-held, two-man air drills, speeded up production but did nothing to improve working conditions. The buzzies, in fact, produced so much fine dust that they led to a higher rate of silicosis, a debilitating respiratory disease, and were soon dubbed "widowmakers."

2006, Clemens P. Work, Darkest Before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West, →ISBN:

(mining, slang) A hand-held pneumatic drill used in mining.


Judas-hole

A moment, and an iron-grated Judas-hole in the door slid open, and a servant, an elderly man, sleek and respectable, looked out at him.

1922 [1901], Stanley J. Weyman, Count Hannibal: A Romance of the Court of France:

A small hole in a door through which a person can spy without being seen from the other side, used especially in prisons.


school resource officer

en-noun

school resource officer (plural school resource officers)

(US, law enforcement) A police officer stationed at a school, such as a high school.


super recogniser

super recogniser (plural super recognisers)

(law enforcement) A person whose face recognition ability is significantly better than average.


black jail

A facility in which individuals are detained by the state without access to legal process or representation.


firebell

(firefighting) An alarm bell sounded in the event of a fire.


work the oracle

en-verb

work the oracle (third-person singular simple present works the oracle, present participle working the oracle, simple past and past participle worked the oracle)

works the oracle (present singular third-person)
working the oracle (participle present)
worked the oracle (participle past)
worked the oracle (past)

Holdaway reports that procedural rules are often considered irrelevant by the British police as they go about their daily duties. The occupational culture of the British police condones the use of “verbals” or “working the oracle.”

2006, Thomas Barker, Police Ethics: Crisis in Law Enforcement, page 90:

(UK, law enforcement slang) To fabricate a suspect's verbal statement.


fireground

(firefighting) The site where a fire occurs or has recently occurred.


gangbusting

2020 November 1, Alan Young, “In the 1980s a slipping career was revived with The Untouchables (1987), with his role as a tough gangbusting Irish policeman winning him an Academy Award for best supporting actor.”, in The Scotsman:

The disruption by law enforcement of organized crime.


(UK, law enforcement) A person of black ethnicity


(UK, law enforcement) A person of asian (Indian) ethnicity


(UK, law enforcement) A person of white, south European ethnicity


(UK, law enforcement) A person of white, north European ethnicity


(UK, law enforcement) A person of asian (Chinese, Japanese) ethnicity


(UK, law enforcement) A person of unknown ethnicity


(UK, law enforcement) A person of arab or north African ethnicity


IC code

(UK, law enforcement) A code used by British police to identify the apparent ethnicity of a person


Halligan bar

Named after its designer, New York City firefighter Hugh Halligan, in 1948.

A firefighter's multipurpose tool for breaking down doors, etc., having a claw (or fork), a blade, and a tapered pick.


cop car

I backed my car into a cop car the other day / Well, he just drove off, sometimes life's okay

2004, Modest Mouse (lyrics and music), “Float On”, in Good News for People Who Love Bad News:


CVPI

Crown Victoria Police Interceptor#English

(US, automotive, law enforcement) Initialism of Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.


police court

(law) A court of justice for trying small cases brought before it by the police.


Club Fed

A pun on Club Med, a company offering luxurious holidays, and fed (“federal agent”).

(Canada, US, slang) A prison offering greater comfort and more facilities to inmates than is typical.


SAF

Special Action Force
w:Special Action Force

(Philippines, law enforcement) Initialism of Special Action Force.


identification parade

en-noun

identification parade (plural identification parades)

He had once in his early days dropped in with his Superintendent at an identification parade. It was not his case, and they were both there on other business, but they lingered in the background and watched while a man and a woman, separately, walked down the line of twelve nondescript men, looking for the one they hoped to recognise.

1951, Josephine Tey, chapter 2, in The Daughter of Time, London: Peter Davies, page 24:

One of the ticket clerks at the Brahmpur Railway Station was going to be asked to try to pick Maan out at an identification parade in the jail. Under these circumstances, he could not let Maan’s head be shaved.

1993, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, Boston: Little, Brown, Chapter 17.26, pp. 1330-1331:

(law enforcement) A process by which a witness confirms the identity of a criminal suspect, by viewing the suspect together with other people who were not involved in the crime.


copaganda

/ˌkɒpəˈɡændə/

/ˌkɑpəˈɡændə/

The movie had a clear example of copaganda when FBI agents were portrayed as good guys when they were clearly in the wrong.

Sick of all these Copaganda shows on TV. Are these the same cops that hide in vans every weekend and take 45 mins to respond to 999 calls?

2009 August 21, William McClymont, Twitter:

That David Simon could tell people with bricks in their hand to “go home,” and have no direct words of condemnation for the violence displayed by the police made me remember my friend Dashon — from Baltimore — who told me he would never watch The Wire because he believed it to be “copaganda,” since it was created not only by Simon but by longtime Baltimore police officer Ed Burns.

2015 May 4, Dave Zirin, “‘The Game Done Changed’: Reconsidering ‘The Wire’ Amidst the Baltimore Uprising”, in The Nation, archived from the original on 2019-02-15:

To counter this, police reform and police abolitionist activists on Twitter have invented a rather useful term: "Copaganda." Copaganda is any news story that uncritically advances a police department's image or helps undermine reform efforts. Here are eight of the most common forms of copaganda.

2016 February 23, Adam Johnson, “The 8 Most Popular Types of ‘Copaganda’: How the Police Play the Media”, in AlterNet, archived from the original on 2019-02-15:

However, while an article about Robert Downey Jr. visiting a child dying of leukemia doesn’t have an impact on the public perception of criminal justice, copaganda does.

2018 July 25, Brendan Gallagher, “Just say no to viral ‘copaganda’ videos”, in The Daily Dot, archived from the original on 2019-02-15:

“Yeah, wading down into the comments. "Winsomely compelling cop-aganda," says C-Rob-69. Oh, wait, that was me.” “Drivel for the unwashed. The Bard, how he weeps.”

2024 November 25, Max Brockman, “P.I. Undercover: New York” (1:34 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 6, episode 8, spoken by Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch):

(derogatory) Media that contains propagandistic pro-police messages.


on tag

The prisoner was released on tag.

(UK) Under judicial surveillance by means of an electronic tag worn on the ankle etc.


pussy posse

Chosen for the alliteration, with pussy (“female genitalia”) in reference to prostitution.


Special Branch

(UK, Commonwealth) A unit, typically part of the police, that is responsible for matters of national security and intelligence.


no-crime

en-verb

no-crime (third-person singular simple present no-crimes, present participle no-criming, simple past and past participle no-crimed)

no-crimes (present singular third-person)
no-criming (participle present)
no-crimed (participle past)
no-crimed (past)

Nevertheless, if the recommendations of the Working Party had been strictly observed, no reported cases in 1986 should have been 'no-crimed' on the basis of the victim withdrawing her complaint.

1989, Lorna J. F. Smith, Great Britain. Home Office. Research and Planning Unit, Concerns about rape, HMSO Books

Gregory and Lees (1999) suggest that, in contrast, the high rates of 'no criming' for rape and sexual assault demonstrate the low priority attached by the police to these offences.

2004, J. Jordan, The Word of a Woman?: Police, Rape and Belief, Springer, →ISBN, page 63:

According to these figures, in Lincolnshire, for example, 26% of all reported rapes were no-crimed in 2012–13 and 20% were no-crimed in 2011–12. This contrasts with Merseyside, where 4% reported rape crimes were no-crimed in 2012–13 ...

2014, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee, Caught Red Handed: Why We can't Count on Police Recorded Crime Statistics - HC 760, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 16:

Of cases reported, half to two-thirds are “no-crimed” or, in US parlance, “unfounded” or determined to be “baseless” by the police (Brown, 2010; Kelly et al., 2010).

2014, Karen Rich, Interviewing Rape Victims: Practice and Policy Issues in an International Context, Springer, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK) To determine that an alleged crime, especially a sexual assault or rape, should not be prosecuted as a crime (e.g. because the victim has withdrawn their complaint).


deluge gun

(firefighting) An aimable high-capacity water jet used in firefighting and fire protection systems.


hospital order

Where hospital orders were made, direct admission to hospital from the court was arranged if possible.

2002, Robert Harris, David Webb, Mentally Disordered Offenders: Managing People Nobody Owns, →ISBN:

Patients admitted to hospital under a hospital order without a restriction order are treated largely the same as patients detained on the basis of an application for admission for treatment under section 3.

2008, Great Britain. Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety Department of Health, Reference Guide to the Mental Health Act 1983, →ISBN, page 55:

In the case of an offender who is subject to an interim hospital order the court may make a hospital order without his being brought before the court if he is represented by an authorised person who given an opportunity of being heard.

2014, John Gunn, Pamela Taylor, Forensic Psychiatry: Clinical, Legal and Ethical Issues, →ISBN:

A court order requiring an offender who is found not guilty by reason of insanity to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital.


CrASBO

(British, law enforcement) Acronym of criminal antisocial behaviour order: a restriction like an ASBO, but where the forbidden behaviour constitutes a crime.


fuck 12

From fuck + 12, of uncertain origin. Widespread use of the phrase as an anti-police slogan grew following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
* Possibly from 1312, an alternative form of ACAB (“all cops are bastards”) in which the letters are substituted with their position in the alphabet.
* Alternatively, from the American police procedural television series Adam-12 (1968–1975), in which 1-Adam-12 refers to a patrol unit and its radio call sign.
Likely popularized by "F*ck 12", a song by American hip hop group Migos from their 2013 mixtape Y.R.N. (Young Rich Niggas), which uses 12 in reference to the police while describing a narcotics raid: “12 kickin' in my front door […] 12 in my home, they won't leave me alone”.

Vehicles with the words "Fuck 12" painted on the sides and windows drove down West Florissant Avenue, honking in support of protesters on the street as others would chant the straight-to-the-point slogan.

2014 August 17, Ray Downs, “Ferguson Protesters Defy State of Emergency Curfew and Fight Tear Gas”, in Riverfront Times:

Kwame Shakur, deputy chairman of the New African Black Panther Party, showed up with a megaphone and led the protesters in chants of "All power to the people" and "Fuck 12."

2020 May 7, Tyler Fenwick, “'We're just trying to get answers': Fatal IMPD shooting captured on Facebook Live”, in Indianapolis Recorder:

(slang, vulgar, derogatory) Fuck the police, an anti-police slogan protesting police behavior.

Adam-12
Migos
Y.R.N. (Young Rich Niggas)
killing of Michael Brown
murder of George Floyd


five-alarm

(firefighting) The highest priority category of a multialarm fire.


cellhouse

Such doorman will work at all times under the direct supervision of the cellhouse keeper and, during his tour of duty, will be responsible for the count of all inmates leaving or entering the cellhouse and for the security of the cellhouse door.

1962, Joseph Edward Ragen, Charles Finston, Inside the World's Toughest Prison, page 582:

65 The correctional officer in charge of the cellhouse, a sergeant, noticed the inmate resisting his transfer enter the cellhouse with five others and then go up a flight of stairs to an upper tier.

1991, Bert Useem, Peter Kimball, States of Siege: U.S. Prison Riots, 1971-1986, page 73:

The two mess halls were inadequate to feed the four thousand convicts from the four cellhouses at the same time, so the North and West honor units ate first.

2013, Edward Bunker, The Animal Factory:

One of the buildings in a prison that contains cells for the inmates; cellblock.


hot zone

A hot zone was established quickly. Unfortunately, these efforts were compromised by a few MPD officers on the scene who did not understand the serious nature of the potential chemical/biological threat and treated the incident more as a bomb scare. These officers initially crossed in and out of the hot zone, and could have contaminated themselves and other personnel had this been a real incident.

1997, U S Fire Administration, FEMA, Fire Department Response to Biological Threat at B'nai B'rith Headquarters, page 6:

Medical monitoring is an essential aspect to conducting operations in the hot zone.

2004, Stanley E. Toy, Hot Zone Log: Personal HazMat Record, page 22:

Subsequently, it became evident that Iitate was a hot zone with very high levels of radiation contamination and all of its residents and evacuees had to be evacuated.

2012, Jeff Kingston, Contemporary Japan, page 210:

(firefighting) An area to which access is restricted because it is contaminated with radiation or a chemical or biological biohazard.


pay-to-stay

But despite improvements, Mr Baruch says some complaints persist. “Pay to stay [cash to secure shelf space] is front and centre of the complaints we receive — it’s supply chain bullying and anti-competitive. They shouldn’t try to create barriers to business — it’s fundamentally unfair, particularly at a time when small business confidence is at an all-time low.”

2016 August 21, Paul McClean, “Supermarkets and suppliers take stock of relationships”, in Financial Times:

(business) The practice where retailers charge manufacturers a slotting fee to place their products on the shelves of stores.

(US) A scheme where prison inmates are charged for their accommodation (meals, clothing etc.) while in prison.

In what is commonly called “pay-to-stay” or “private jail,” a constellation of small city jails — at least 26 of them in Los Angeles and Orange counties — open their doors to defendants who can afford the option. […] The region’s pay-to-stay jails took in nearly $7 million from the programs from 2011 through 2015, according to revenue figures provided by the cities.

2017 March 9, Alysia Santo, Victoria Kim, Anna Flagg, “Upgrade your jail cell – for a price”, in Los Angeles Times:

(US) A scheme where prisoners can pay to be moved to a more desirable prison.

In 1979, 42% of Britons lived in council homes. Today that figure is just under 8%. Now, by scrapping secure tenancies and bringing in a pay-to-stay scheme, the government’s new housing bill could mark the end of a century-old dream[.]

2016 January 4, John Harris, “The end of council housing”, in The Guardian:

Under the so-called “pay to stay” plans, families or individuals with a total annual income of £30,000 outside London or £40,000 in the capital will have to pay rents “at market or near-market levels”.

2016 March 23, Nigel Morris, “Pay to stay: Moves to impose increases on rents paid by better-off council tenants set to be thrown out by peers”, in The Independent:

(UK) A United Kingdom government policy, due to come into effect in April 2017 but never implemented, whereby council tenants earning £30,000 (£40,000 in London) would have to pay "market or near market rents".


containment line

en-noun

containment line (plural containment lines)

(firefighting) A linear area which has been cleared of inflammable material in order to prevent a fire from spreading across it.


polac

An accident involving a police car is known as a 'polac', and is investigated 'independently' by the area traffic department rather than by the division to which the driver belongs.

1990, Robert Chesshyre, Force: Inside the Police, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:

Before getting out of his van, he sent out a Polac (police accident) bulletin on his radio.

2001 February 12, John Sutherland, The Guardian:

Two weeks in my opinion cant surely be enough.¶ Oh well, whatever saves money. (they way to stop Polacs is apparently to create an initial phase pursuit course (1 to 2 days)! mmmm I think perhaps the way might be to stop decreasing the length of the course and to give drivers some appropriate vehicles, but thats another thread!

2007 January 2, magoo, “Standard Driving Test for Special Constables”, in Police Community, archived from the original on 2021-02-05, Roads Policing:

(UK, law enforcement) A road-traffic accident that occurs due to presence of a police vehicle.


POLAC

I doubt that the organisation is going to be terribly concerned that you arrive at that call thirty seconds later than you would have done otherwise but can be pretty sure that they would have something to say had you smashed up your police car on the way there. I doubt also that CPS would be satisfied with the defence of '...It was my first night duty … and I was rather tired...' after your high profile POLAC gets splashed all over the national newspapers and television news.

2019, Darren Moor, How To Survive Your Police Career, Troubador Publishing, →ISBN:

And it really brought it home to me when I was involved in my own POLAC (police accident) in March 2012.

2015 January 14, Jessica Davies, “Pc moved into office role 'after telling bosses blue-flashing lights on police cars don't work'”, in The Telegraph:

First, a woman goes missing, and leaves her things and a mysterious note in her car. Now a POLAC with a DCI in the passenger seat.

2015, Martin Edwards, The Dungeon House, Allison & Busby, →ISBN:

When you have an at fault POLAC on camera!

2018 February 1, StopFightingTheDog, “That moment you have a POLAC . . . in the middle of the day in town . . . whilst being recorded for a television programme”, in Reddit, r/PoliceUK:

(UK, law enforcement) Alternative letter-case form of polac


POLAC

(Nigeria, law enforcement) The Police Academy of Nigeria.