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Legal > Cop Lingo
Legal & Law Enforcement Terms
Cop Lingo - Police dramas like NYPD
BLUE/ABC/1993-2005; HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET/NBC/1993-99; and LAW &
ORDER/NBC/1990+; sprinkle their scripts with special slang and terminology used
by the cops on the beat.
The following is a list of some of the words you might encounter while
watching your favorite cop show:
BCI: Bureau of Criminal Information; (fingerprint and criminal
records section)
CCRB: Civilian Complaint Review Board
CSI: Criminal Scene Investigation
CSU: Crime Scene Unit
DOA: "dead on arrival"
DWI: Driving While Intoxicated, (a.k.a. "Dee Wee")
DT: Slang for Detective
EDP: Emotionally Disturbed Person, (a.k.a. "nut job, psycho, mentally
ill")
EMS: Emergency Medical Services
ESU: Emergency Services Unit
FAT: Fugitive Apprehension Team\
Five-O: Slang for police (derived from TV police drama HAWAII FIVE-O)
Flying; as in "fly the coup" to another work assignment at another
precinct
Go down: as in "You're going down (being arrested for a crime)
Gun run: Going in search of a gun used in crime
Hit: To assault a known criminal location
IAB: Internal Affairs Bureau, "cops who investigate cops"
Lawyering Up: A suspect shuts up and requests a lawyer
Lou or Loo: Slang for Lieutenant
MOS: Member of the Service, a radio code word identifying a police officer
OC: Organized Crime
Package or VIP: Escorted prisoner as in "delivering a package" to a destination
Paying the rent: Doing grunt work like issuing a traffic summons and
speeding ticket
Perp: Short for Perpetrator of a crime, (a.k.a. Mope or a Mutt)
Puzzle Palace: Slang for main police headquarters
Rabbi: A reliable, trustworthy person in the work environment
Rat Squad: Slang for officers and detectives working for Internal Affairs Bureau
(IAB).
Red Menace: Slang for members of the New York City Fire Department, (a.k.a. Rubbermen)
Rip: Pay reduction resulting from a disciplinary action
RMP: Radio Mobile Patrol
Skel: short for "skeleton" refers to drug-users, junkies or homeless vagrants
(possibly derived from word "skellum" meaning thief or street beggar
SNAG: Special Narcotics and Guns Unit
SNEU: Special Narcotics Enforcement Unit
SOD: Special Operations Division
TARU: Technical and Research Unit
Tunnel Rats: NYPD Transit Bureau (subway cops)
White Shirts: Supervisors (lieutenants, captains, etc) who wear white police
uniform shirts.
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