Common police phrases, police acronyms and police slang

May 02, 2023

Police Tech & Gear

Over the years, officers have cultivated their own language, using phrases that only those in law enforcement would understand; check out our list to see if you're current on your police jargon

Do you ever wonder how coded police talk came about?

Well, radios back in the day were anything but hi-fi, and few agencies had more than one channel to use. There were a lot of static and garbled transmissions. Air time was precious. In an effort to break through the interference, many agencies adopted brevity codes that were easily understood. Many codes started with a hard consonant, like "T," to add punch to the spoken phrase. Some codes, such as "10-4," made their way into the general lexicon through their use on TV shows like "Highway Patrol" and pop radio songs such as "Convoy."

Although there are now plenty of radio channels available, today's officers still use these codes to keep communication succinct and somewhat secret to the public. Over the years, officers have also cultivated their own language, using certain phrases that only law enforcement officers would understand.

Below are some common phrases, acronyms and slang terms commonly heard throughout an officer's career. And because we know each department's terms differ, email us the ones we missed and we'll add them to the list.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Misc.

Tim Dees is a writer, editor, trainer and former law enforcement officer. After 15 years as a police officer with the Reno Police Department and elsewhere in northern Nevada, Tim taught criminal justice as a full-time professor and instructor at colleges in Wisconsin, West Virginia, Georgia and Oregon. He was also a regional training coordinator for the Oregon Dept. of Public Safety Standards & Training, providing in-service training to 65 criminal justice agencies in central and eastern Oregon.Tim has written more than 800 articles for nearly every national law enforcement publication in the United States. He is the author of The Truth About Cops, a collection of answers written for Quora.com. He now writes on police applications of technology in law enforcement from his home in SE Washington state.Tim holds a bachelor's degree in biological science from San José State University, a master's degree in criminal justice from The University of Alabama, and the Certified Protection Professional credential from ASIS International. He can be reached at [email protected].