During the french revolution there was a temporary regime called the
"Commitee of Public Safety"
That spells COPS, so I was wondering- is there any connection?
2006-08-18 04:07:43 · 13 answers · asked by Yentl 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
There is some truth to the other answers that COP is an acronym for "Constable on Patrol". It was in the early days of English law that Constables would make rounds at night and hang a sign on the door that read "Constable on Patrol".
COP is also associated with the Latin word "capere" meaning to seize or snatch or the gypsy word Kap and Cop meaning to take. In the 19th century, "to cop" meant to snatch grab or arrest hence the word "cop" or "copper". It has also been associated with the copper badges that were issued to early police officers. From the same root came the term "to cop a plea" and to "cop out".
Source(s):
Criminal Justice Sixth Edition James Inciardi
2006-08-18 12:53:38 · answer #1 · answered by aitutaki98 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The term "cops" is actually a derivative of Constable On Partol. A term that was used in the late 1800's when police forces throughout the US became established. Prior to that most cities had a "nightwatch" that was responsible for watching for fires in town, checking the businesses for burglars and lighting and extinguishing the gas or oil lamps in the town.
2006-08-18 11:14:10 · answer #2 · answered by Quasimodo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hello, I am a Law Enforcement Officer, and a student with a dual major in Criminal Justice and Fire Science Admin. All of these sound good, but Cat is auctually correct. Before badges, they wore a coat, very similar to that of todays dress blouses, and they were dressed with copper buttons. Started with the shire-reeves (later sheriffs) being nicknamed coppers by citizens, which was later shortened to "COPS"
2006-08-18 12:43:33 · answer #3 · answered by McK150 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. The origin of the word COP, comes from the British. It is an acronym: Constable on Patrol. The plural is Cops.
2006-08-18 11:12:38 · answer #4 · answered by jfahd 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Constable On Partol
2006-08-18 11:16:05 · answer #5 · answered by italoman43 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No it didnt start from there. It started with town watchmen ans sheriffs. I believe the first department went up in England, I dont remember the name but it is famous. I just took this class I should know more details. Also pretty much all of these were all crooks:(
2006-08-18 11:20:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always thought COP was an abbreviation of Chief of Police?
2006-08-18 11:36:40 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Short for "Coppers" badges were made of copper in the early days of law enforcement.
2006-08-18 11:21:26 · answer #8 · answered by Black Sabbath 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope. Comes from shortening "Copper" - which came from many british police, a long time ago, had copper buttons on their uniforms.
2006-08-18 11:13:51 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is an abbreviation of copper which, historically, is the material their badges were made of.
2006-08-18 12:10:59 · answer #10 · answered by C B 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋