# List of police-related slang terms
Police-related slang terms are informal words for police officers and policing that exist in many languages and regions. The word *police* itself entered English via Latin, meaning "civil administration".[1](https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3030543/how-hong-kong-slang-terms-police-have-evolved)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| "Cop" | From the verb "to cop," meaning to seize or capture, dating to at least 1704 in British English, from Latin *capere* via Old French *caper*[2](https://allaboutlawyer.com/slang-for-law-enforcement/) |
| "Five-O" | Derived from the television series *Hawaii Five-O*, about a special police unit; common in hip-hop lyrics and culture by the 1990s[2](https://allaboutlawyer.com/slang-for-law-enforcement/) |
| "12" | An American shorthand for police that surged again during the nationwide protests of 2020[3](https://legalclarity.org/why-are-police-called-12-the-origin-of-the-slang-term/) |
| Hong Kong Cantonese | *Luhkyī* ("green clothing") for 19th-century green uniforms; *hākgíng* ("black cops") coined during the 2014 umbrella movement[1](https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3030543/how-hong-kong-slang-terms-police-have-evolved) |
| Reference works | Dedicated dictionaries include *Cop Talk: A Dictionary of Police Slang* (Poteet and Poteet, 2000, 164 pages) and the US government reference *Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel*[4](https://books.google.com/books/about/Cop_Talk.html?id=op-psiNGl84C) • [5](https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GOVPUB-J24-PURL-gpo130575) |
## English terms and their origins
**Cop and copper.** The most durable English slang term for a police officer is "cop," which comes from the verb "to cop," meaning to seize or capture. That verb is attested in [British English](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-english) from at least 1704 and derives from the Latin *capere* through [Old French](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-french) *caper*. A related folk etymology attributes the word to copper buttons on officers' uniforms, but the verb-based origin is the commonly cited one.[2](https://allaboutlawyer.com/slang-for-law-enforcement/)
**British terms.** In England, a long list of informal names has grown up around the police, including "the Old Bill" and "PC Plod." PC Plod is an uncomplimentary term for a police constable, suggesting someone plodding around slowly and not very usefully. The word "nick" traces to a 15th-century English word meaning a groove or notch.[6](https://www.webhistoryofengland.com/p-814-cpage-1) British, Canadian, and [Australian English](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-english) maintain their own vocabularies, with terms such as "the filth" and "coppers" alongside the American set.[3](https://legalclarity.org/why-are-police-called-12-the-origin-of-the-slang-term/)
## Terms from media and popular culture
Television has supplied several widely used names. "Five-O" derives from the title of the television series *Hawaii Five-O*, about a special police unit of that name; the show's title referenced Hawaii's status as the 50th [U.S. state](https://www.edgepedia.org/u-s-state). During the next twenty years, the word moved out of Hawaiian and city slang into everyday American street speech, and by the 1990s it had become especially widespread in hip-hop culture and song lyrics.[2](https://allaboutlawyer.com/slang-for-law-enforcement/)
**"12" and social media.** The number "12" functions as shorthand for law enforcement in American usage and can simply replace the words "police" or "cops," the way a speaker might say "five-oh" or "the feds." It experienced a second surge during the nationwide protests of 2020, when it spread through social media; a livestreamer saying "12 just pulled up" while filming a traffic stop or protest line reinforced the term's meaning through immediate context. Because it depends on American cultural references, it does not translate directly into other English-speaking countries' slang.[3](https://legalclarity.org/why-are-police-called-12-the-origin-of-the-slang-term/)
Other public-facing street terms include "po-po" and "the heat," the latter extended in the phrase "the heat is on," meaning law enforcement pressure is intensifying.[2](https://allaboutlawyer.com/slang-for-law-enforcement/)
## International terms
Slang vocabularies for police exist well beyond English. The cross-language list includes:
- **Babylon**, Jamaican slang for establishment systems, often applied to police.
## Hong Kong Cantonese
Hong Kong shows how uniforms and protest politics shape naming. Hong Kong policemen were historically referred to in [Cantonese](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantonese) as *luhkyī*, "green clothing," for the green uniforms worn since the 19th century; headgear, including the turbans of Sikhs and the conical bamboo hats of Chinese officers, also fed the personification. Khaki drill became the summer uniform around 1920, and the current light-blue shirt and black trousers, worn year-round, were adopted in December 2004.[1](https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3030543/how-hong-kong-slang-terms-police-have-evolved)
Terms used in recent decades have a different hue. During the 2014 "umbrella movement," pro-democracy protesters condemned officers as *hākgíng*, "black cops," a tag widely used in the protests that followed. "Black cops" alludes to *hākséhwúih*, Cantonese for "black society," meaning the triads, implying police collusion with organized crime.[1](https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3030543/how-hong-kong-slang-terms-police-have-evolved) Protest slang in Hong Kong also includes coded words for police activity: undercover officers are called *gwai*, "ghosts," and the shout *lok yu*, "raining," serves as a warning to open umbrellas, often because police are about to use pepper spray.[7](https://time.com/5668286/hong-kong-protests-slang-language-cantonese-glossary/)
## Internal jargon versus public slang
The slang directed at police is distinct from the jargon police use among themselves. Jargon is vocabulary used in a profession that has meaning only to people in that field; examples include "Signal Zero" and "smash and grab," familiar to law enforcement officers but not to civilians.[8](https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/getContentAsset/403f6a3c-fd0e-4e64-960e-dfaae07414a6/73aabf56-e6e5-4330-95a3-5f2a270a1d2b/2022-Law-Enforcement-Textbook.pdf?language=en) American law-enforcement terminology is extensive enough to support dedicated references: one independent online dictionary catalogs 246 slang entries alongside 89 acronym entries, 117 radio-code and dispatch entries, and hundreds of legal, patrol, and investigative terms.[9](https://policedictionary.com/) Print references include *Cop Talk: A Dictionary of Police Slang* by Lewis J. Poteet and Aaron C. Poteet, a 164-page 2000 wordbook presenting the slang of law enforcement officers gathered from working and ex-cops and from printed sources.[4](https://books.google.com/books/about/Cop_Talk.html?id=op-psiNGl84C) The U.S. government has also published *Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel* for officer use.[5](https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GOVPUB-J24-PURL-gpo130575)
## References
1. [Language Matters: How Hong Kong slang terms for 'police' have evolved over time, South China Morning Post (2019)](https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3030543/how-hong-kong-slang-terms-police-have-evolved)
2. [Slang For Law Enforcement, 60+ Terms, Origins & Meanings, AllAboutLawyer](https://allaboutlawyer.com/slang-for-law-enforcement/)
3. [Why Are Police Called 12? Slang Origins Explained, LegalClarity](https://legalclarity.org/why-are-police-called-12-the-origin-of-the-slang-term/)
4. [Cop Talk: A Dictionary of Police Slang, Lewis J. Poteet and Aaron C. Poteet, iUniverse, 2000, Google Books](https://books.google.com/books/about/Cop_Talk.html?id=op-psiNGl84C)
5. [Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel, GovInfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GOVPUB-J24-PURL-gpo130575)
6. [Coppers, the Old Bill, PC Plod and other police slang, History and traditions of England](https://www.webhistoryofengland.com/p-814-cpage-1)
7. [Hong Kong's Protestors Have Their Own Special Slang: A Glossary, TIME (2019)](https://time.com/5668286/hong-kong-protests-slang-language-cantonese-glossary/)
8. [2022 Law Enforcement Textbook, Florida Department of Law Enforcement](https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/getContentAsset/403f6a3c-fd0e-4e64-960e-dfaae07414a6/73aabf56-e6e5-4330-95a3-5f2a270a1d2b/2022-Law-Enforcement-Textbook.pdf?language=en)
9. [Police Dictionary: Police Terms, Acronyms, Codes & Slang](https://policedictionary.com/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Conflict and security › Armed forces and security organizations › Police forces and law-enforcement agencies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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