- Law enforcement jargon
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Law enforcement jargon refers to a large body of acronyms, abbreviations, codes and slang used by law enforcement personnel to provide quick concise descriptions of people, places, property and situations, in both spoken and written communication. These vary between countries and to a lesser extent regionally. For the purpose of this article, only English speaking countries are considered.[1]
- ABH: Actual bodily harm
- B&E: Breaking and entering
- BOP: Breach of peace
- D&D: Drunk And Disorderly
- DIP: Drunk In Public
- GBH: Grievous Bodily Harm
- Skell: Unsavoury character
- TDA: Taking and Driving Away
- TWOC: Taken Without Owner's Consent
Contents
Miscellaneous initialisms
- ARV: Armed Response Vehicle
- TFU: Tactical Firearms Unit
- NFA: No Further Action
- SOCO: Scenes Of Crime Officer; a forensic crime scene examiner
- VSS: Victim Support Scheme
- VDRS: Vehicle Defects Rectification Scheme
Miscellaneous acronyms
- CO19: Central Operations Specialist Firearms Command
- HOLMES: Home Office Large and Major Enquiry System; a computer system for major incidents
- PACE: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; Act of parliament providing a core framework of police powers and safeguards around stop and search, arrest, detention, investigation, identification and interviewing detainees
- PCSO: Police Community Support Officer; A civilian uniformed non-warranted officer
- PNC: Police National Computer
- NSPIS: National Strategy for Police Information Systems; a computer system for the management of police resources
Miscellaneous abbreviations
- MISPER: Missing person
- WOFF: Write off; a vehicle or other property deemed a total loss for insurance purposes
- WINQ: Warrant inquiry
- Code 99: Tea break, "99" is a brand of Co-op tea
United States
Numerical and alphanumerical codes
The ten-codes are used only for voice communications, usually radio transmissions and denote commonly used phrases; for example 10-16 means domestic disturbance for some agencies. Use of ten-codes is intended for the clear, quick, and concise communication between law enforcement officers.
The response codes consist of the word "Code" followed by a number; for example "Code 3" means lights and sirens.
Numbers and alphanumeric combinations referring to offenses and actions covered by legal codes are often used both as nouns and verbs in both spoken and written communication. Since each state has its own system of law, this usage varies widely by state. For example in California, if a suspect is 849B'd, it means they are released from custody after being arrested (instead of being booked into county jail) and refers to section 849(b) of the California Penal Code.
Subject description initialisms
Three letter abbreviations are commonly used to describe subjects mentioned in incident reports. The first letter denotes apparent race/ethnicity; the most commonly used letters are: A—Asian, B—Black, H—Hispanic, O—Other, W—White. The letters PI are occasionally used to denote Pacific Islander resulting in a four letter abbreviation [1]. The second letter denotes gender: F—Female, M—Male. The final letter denotes whether the subject is legally an adult: A—Adult, J—Juvenile. Thus the initialism WFJ (or wfj) appearing after a subjects name in a police log would denote a white female juvenile.
Code violations
- ADW: Assault with a Deadly Weapon
- DIP: Drunk In Public
- HS: Health and Safety Code
- PC: Penal Code
- VC: Vehicle Code
- WI: Welfare & Institutions Code
- Fel.: Felony
- Misd.: Misdemeanor
- Inf.: Infraction
Initialisms describing situations
- ATL: Attempt To Locate
- BOLO: Be On Lookout
- DB: Dead Body
- DID: Drunk In a Ditch
- DOA: Dead On Arrival
- EDP: Emotionally Disturbed Person
- GOA: Gone On Arrival
- IFO: In Front Of
- LKA: Last Known Address
- LNU: Last Name Unknown
- QOA: Quiet On Arrival
- UTL: Unable To Locate
Miscellaneous abbreviations and descriptive terms
- Adam Henry (AH): Ignorant individual slang [see HUA]
- APB: All Points Bulletin
- APC: All Points County
- BOLO: Similar to and APB, Be On The Look Out (for)
- CJ: County Jail
- CIVIES: term describing non uniform clothing used in undercover operations
- COMPSTAT: method of tracking criminal activity and subsequent enforcement
- CONDITION: problem or concern in need of police attention
- DA: District Attorney
- DV: Domestic Violence
- DOB: Date Of Birth
- EC: Emergency Contact
- FD: Fire Department
- FTO: Field Training Officer
- GATT: Illegal firearm
- GOA: Gone On Arrival
- HBO: Handled By Officer
- HOUSE MOUSE: A police officer who seldom leaves the police station
- HUA: Ignorant slang [see AH or "Adam Henry"]
- LUDS: Local Usage Details. A detailed record of calls made and received from a particular phone number.
- MUTT: An extremely unsavory character
- NAT: Necessary Action Taken
- NORP: Normal, Ordinary, Responsible Person
- OLN: Operator's License Number
- PA: Prosecuting Attorney
- PC: Probable Cause (Reasonable Suspicion - for arrest or stop)
- PD: Police Department
- PUKE: A pejorative for an inmate of the county jail or state prison
- RO: Registered Owner
- RP: Reporting Person/Party
- SA: State's Attorney
- SKELL: Unsavory character (term often used by NY Police Officers)
- SKELL GEL: Anti bacterial lotion used by Officers after contact with skell(s)
- SNEU: Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit
- SO: Sheriff's Office
- SOC: Social Security Number
- SOR: Sex Offender Registration/Registrant
- SRO: School Resource Officer
- UTL: Unable To Locate
- WOOD SHAMPOO: Using less than lethal force to gain voluntary compliance
Miscellaneous acronyms
- AFIS: Automated fingerprint identification system
- CODIS: Combined DNA Index System
- IAFIS: Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
- NCIC: National Crime Information Center
- SWAT: A police department's elite special weapons and tactics unit
- VIN: Vehicle Identification Number
Miscellaneous abbreviations
- BKD: Booked (into county jail)
- BLK: Street block
- BTWN: Between
- BUS: Ambulance
- COMPL: Complaintant
- DESC: Description
- JUV: Juvenile
- MOD: Model (of vehicle, for example)
- M/N: Model Number (of article, for example)
- PROP: Property
- PERP: Perpetrator
- REG: Vehicle registration
- RELD/RLSD: Released
- RPTS: Reports (verb)
- SER: Serial number
- S/N: Serial number
- S/H: Stationhouse
- SUSP: Suspect
- S/V: Suspect Vehicle
- TKN: Taken
- TANGO: Thank You
- UNK: Unknown
- UTL: Unable To Locate
- VEH: Vehicle
- VIC: Victim
- V/C: Victim / Complainant
- WARR: Warrant
Popular culture
Law enforcement jargon is heavily used in police procedurals and similar violent shows. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a television series about forensic scientists, uses many acronyms such as AFIS, CODIS and DB.
The numeric code 187 from the California Penal Code section dealing with murder has been featured in numerous gangsta rap songs such as Deep Cover and as the title of the movie One Eight Seven.
External links
- Killeen Police Jargon Page (the local police department in Killeen, Texas)
- North Yorkshire Police Jargon Buster (the Police Force in North Yorkshire, England)
- Menlo Park Police Daily Log Glossary (PDF format) (the local police department in Menlo Park, California)
- Staffordshire Police Jargon Buster (the Police Force in Staffordshire, England)
- UK Police Slang and Acronyms (a large and growing list of police slang submitted by Police forum members.)
- Legal Jargon Glossary (a large list of legal terms and jargon used by Attorneys.
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References
Categories:- Law enforcement terminology
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