Talk:Police officer
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[edit] assessment
The lack of references, and the problems listed below, keep this article as a start in my opinion--SGGH 14:48, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Merge
How do people here feel about merging Police officer with Police? Generalcp702 21:55, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
24.145.137.233It would be akin to merging doctor with medicine or clergy with religion. In other words, probably not a good idea.
[edit] Check
Sign here when you visit this page. I want to know how often people come here. --Generalcp702 22:30, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] "school leavers"
"Although recruits to the police force are often school leavers..."
Can someone please clarify this? Does this mean that police officers are often highschool dropouts? Can this be verfied?
- its a british term, it means finished secondary school, but do not go on to further education. StrengthCoach 07:57, 21 December 2005 (UTC)
-
- Then shouldn't that be fixed? Non-Brits would perhaps take it to mean "those who quit school before completion".
I mistook it for "dropout", I also found it irrelevent to the topic under discussion (service in military or security services) no matter what the country involved and deleted it.--Buckboard 10:01, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] police "officers"
In countries using the English system, only those police members who have reached the rank of inspector or above are officers. Calling a police sergeant a police officer is like calling an army sergeant an army officer. Avalon 08:56, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
- Complete rubbish, I'm afraid. All British police are "police officers", no matter what their rank. This might not be the case in other countries, but it's certainly true throughout the United Kingdom. -- Necrothesp 00:06, 11 February 2006 (UTC)
i think that there shouldnt be any controversy on this subject
"Officer" is strictly generic here.--Buckboard 10:02, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] cop
Where does the term "cop" come from? I have heard it is from the British Constable On Patrol. I have also heard it is b/c their copper badge. Any truth?
- For what its worth, I always assumed "cop" was an abbreviation of "copper", which is still used in Commonwealth English. "Copper" I believe came from "catch". The expressions, "Its a fair cop" (Its a reasonable charge which I (the villain) accept) and "I'll cop to that" (I'll admit my guilt in relation to that offence) would seem to be related. Avalon 11:35, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
- The most likely explanation is that it comes from "to cap", an archaic term meaning "to arrest"; this was pronounced as "cop" in Northern England, and police officers came to be known as "coppers", which was later shortened back to "cop" in America. -- Necrothesp 00:12, 11 February 2006 (UTC)
Don't forget the Latin term 'cappere', to capture... VJ Emsi 11:01, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
In Canada and the UK, C.O.P. stands for "Constable On Patrol". Other ideas surrounding this term seem to have developed, but the original and intended meaning is a fact.
- No, this is almost certainly a fallacy, not a fact. For a start, police officers have only been known as "cops" in the UK in fairly recent years under American influence - "coppers" is still the commoner usage and almost the exclusive usage within the job itself (although "bobbies" is commoner still). -- Necrothesp 14:11, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Well, I heard that it is derived from an era where the British Police used copper sheilds- thus "Copper" then "Cop". Apparently, there are lots of myths. Someone needs to come up with a source Angrynight 00:50, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
Also, cop may come from the action of making an arrest, in the past in the UK police were known to "cop" someone. 0103, 31Oct2006
- I seriously doubt the slang term is based on an official abbreviation.
- The movie Mad Max made me think about the obvious relation with the metal, too. In the UK the term "copper" as long form of "cop" seems to be rather common, so it'd make sense to assume the short form came later and the slang "copper" actually had something to do with the metal of the same name (IIRC in Mad Max the "coppers" were called bronzes because of the metal their badges were made of).
- I prefer the term copper myself because it sounds less disparaging (IMO, anyway) and works nicer in German (which tends to favour slang words with two syllables), which would only offer the insulting "Bulle" (bull) as slang phrase for cops otherwise, which is why I've been wondering.
- Either way, which one of both, if either, is considered more insulting and would it be considered an offense if you used it in the presence of a police officer? The German slang phrase can result in a non-trivial fine, so I'd rather know in advance before pissing off the wrong guys on my next trip to the Isles. — Ashmodai (talk · contribs) 16:22, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Infectious diseases?
Why do infectious diseases deserve mention as a danger to police officers? Aren't they dangers to the entire public? --Generalcp702 00:04, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
- Police officers are much more at risk, since they often deal with blood (which may well be contaminated), drug users and people with little concern for hygiene. -- Necrothesp 13:51, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
[[subst:polltop}} don't move, of course. —Nightstallion (?) Seen this already? 07:52, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
it's now "increased risk of" --Buckboard 10:03, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Requested move
Talk:Police officer … Police officer → Police Officer … Police Officer is more likely to be typed than Police officer but Police Officer redirects to Police. Generalcp702 00:53, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
- Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~
- Oppose. Standard capitalization, lowercase term (P only capitalized because initial caps turned on), not a proper name, no-brainer. Either redirect "Police Officer" to "Police officer" or merge this article with "Police". Gene Nygaard 06:55, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
- Oppose, per Gene. Jonathunder 03:45, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
- Oppose, as in this context "Police Officer" is not a proper noun. David Kernow 12:11, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
- Oppose If no one else has done it, I'll change the redirect, Septentrionalis 21:57, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.
[edit] who wrote this?
"It is a common misconception that police officers work to "serve and protect." In reality they are there to protect the interest of the rich, powerful and corrupt. This reality is best illustrated by the slang term PIG, whigh also illustrates the type of personality required to enslave and rob individuals of their God-granted freedom"
man! i thought everything i've heard about regarding misinformation on wikipedia was a joke. this is ridiculous though, and i deleted it.
Good deletion, probably someone from copwatch.com or somethin...
[edit] Officer Down Memorial Page
Putting this in Wikipedia was a copyright violation; it has been removed and will not be restored so the link to it needed to be removed from this article. Rlquall 16:26, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Criticism
It would be undeniably POV to leave out a criticism of cops, considering how many people do criticize them. 69.123.9.255
- Sure. Just find credible sources and write it in an encyclopaedic tone. OTOH, I think notable allegations of corruption/brutality against specific officers or specific forces belong in the articles about those particular forces, and general concerns about the Police belong on that page, or at Police brutality etc. FiggyBee 00:33, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
