Group Forums >> Law Enforcement History >> Cop or Copper. How did it start?
Cop or Copper. How did it start?
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95 posts back to top |
Posted 6 months ago
Several different stories have evolved over the slang term, Cop or Copper. I want to start a survey on PoliceLink to get everyone's opinion on how they think it all started. The following are a few suggested roots of the word(s).
Does anyone else know of any beginings of the word?
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| Posted 6 months ago I have only heard of the ones you have listed here. I have not heard of any others. People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men
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| Posted 6 months ago Cop came from the mid 1800´s in the New York City Police Department, which at the time was the Metropolitan Police Force, officers badges were made of copper and would turn dark color in time, the criminals would yell out ¨Here comes the coppers¨ or Hey Copper¨ hence the name cut short to cops or cop! Remember in the late 20´s the FBI were called G-Men....... Miami, Fl. 102.7 FM oldies 60's -70's music! http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=WMXJFM&uid=23 A Cool Website On History In Photos Of The New York City Police Department! http://www.policeny.com/ Police Pulse! http://www.policepulse.com/main/invitation/new Policevets! http://www.policevets.org/ |
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| Posted 6 months ago While commonly believed to be an acronym for Constable On Patrol, the term refers to "one who captures or snatches". This word first appeared in the early 18th century, and can be matched with the word "cap", which has the same meaning and whose etymology can be traced to the Latin word 'capere'. (The word retains this meaning in other contexts: teenagers "cop a feel" on a date, and they have also been known to "cop an attitude".) Variation: Copper. It is also believed that the term Copper was the original, unshortened word, popularly believed to represent the copper badges American officers used to wear at the time of origin, but in fact probably used in Britain to mean "someone who cops" long before this. |
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| Posted 6 months ago or it could possibly be this version................................. Around the year 1700, the slang verb cop entered English usage, meaning "to get ahold of, catch, capture." By 1844, cop showed up in print, and soon thereafter the -er suffix was added, and a policeman became a copper, one who cops or catches and arrests criminals. Copper first appeared in print in 1846, the use of cop as a short form copper occured in 1859. "If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking."
Retleo (MODERATOR #8) |
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| Posted 6 months ago RussLesco says ...
Dumb people are scary, and dumb people that think they are smarter than everyone else are even scarier!!-Me
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| Posted 6 months ago I did a little home work tonight! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Miami, Fl. 102.7 FM oldies 60's -70's music! http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=WMXJFM&uid=23 A Cool Website On History In Photos Of The New York City Police Department! http://www.policeny.com/ Police Pulse! http://www.policepulse.com/main/invitation/new Policevets! http://www.policevets.org/ |
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| Posted 6 months ago I recieved the following reply from <!-- USER AVATAR -->RxR_Special_Agent: Unfortunately I do not know where (if at all) this is documented, but I've always heard that "Cop" is a short way of saying, "Constable on patrol." Even up through the 1960's here in Northern California, many of the smaller communities had Justice Courts with an elected Constable and their deputies that served as the Court Officer. In California, Constables had full Peace Officer Powers and since it was an elected position in small tight-knit communities, it was very important for the elected Constable to be politically-savy. As such, many Constables took to "Patrol" for general crime fighting and law enforcement. This was perfectly legal and acceptable although it was not their primary duty. In many small communities, even up until the 1960's when the Sheriff was often rarely seen or roads were not condusive to the Sheriff regularly traveling to the small communities from the county seat, the local Constable from the community was seen as the primary law officer for day to day patrol type matters and emergencies. As such, when people would see the Constable on patrol rather than attending the few court matters that occassionally came up, they would comment that "Constable's on Patrol." |
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| Posted 6 months ago In the early days of policing in America - the police wore copper buttons on their uniforms. So everyone called them "coppers" |
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| Posted 5 months ago The slang term "Copper" originates in England. The police officers there used to wear large copper badges. This is the actual origin of the term. |
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| Posted 5 months ago I teach as an on call police intructor in our academy and I use this definition for cop often to recruits: Our duty and responsibility is to protect and serve the public with courtesy, professionalism and respect. That is why we are called cops: Champions Of the People. |
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| Posted 5 months ago NYCCenturian says ...
Miami, Fl. 102.7 FM oldies 60's -70's music! http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=WMXJFM&uid=23 A Cool Website On History In Photos Of The New York City Police Department! http://www.policeny.com/ Police Pulse! http://www.policepulse.com/main/invitation/new Policevets! http://www.policevets.org/ |
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| Posted 5 months ago Copper badges could be made in larger sizes by the large copper English TUPENCE (2 Pence), Trepence (3 pence) of the 1800's. A ready blank of soft copper could be used to hammer a steel die. The blanks could be made bigger by placing them in a stack of two on rails and allowing trains to forge them into one larger piece. Copper was used for badges because it was soft, inexpensive, and easy to form. The badges would tarnish easily and turn dark, almost black from oxidation if they were not polished. Some claim that this lack of care lead to the negative term "dirty copper" as someone who did not follow the rules. |
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| Posted 5 months ago Did we all learn a lot with this thread, crap I did, were all correct why because were all in the same family God bless us and stay safe always !!!!!! Miami, Fl. 102.7 FM oldies 60's -70's music! http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/player/flash/audio_player.php?id=WMXJFM&uid=23 A Cool Website On History In Photos Of The New York City Police Department! http://www.policeny.com/ Police Pulse! http://www.policepulse.com/main/invitation/new Policevets! http://www.policevets.org/ |



