Why are the police called Cops?

Answer 1

While it’s impossible to trace word origins definitively, the modern usage of "cop" seeps to derive from the word’s definition as a verb: "To get hold of; catch, capture," per Merriam-Webster. The noun evolved from the verb—police officers were "copping" criminals, and eventually, officers became "coppers," then simply “cops."

There are other possible answers, but they’re not supported by any real evidence. One such theory: "Cop" is an acronym for "constable on patrol" or "citizen on patrol." Those are appealing ideas, but they’re probably just backronyms—acronyms created after the fact to explain an older idea. We searched Google Scholar for any references to "constable on patrol" from 1700 to 1900, and the only result appeared in 1894, long after the term “copper" was first used to describe police.

Likewise, there’s no evidence that “copper" once referred to copper badges.

The first known text to define "copper" as "police officer" was 1859’s Vocabulum: Or, The Rogue’s Lexicon. Here’s the book’s definition for "copped":COPPED. Arrested. "The knuck was copped to rights, a skin full of honey was found in his kick’s poke by the copper when he frisked him," the pick-pocket was arrested, and when searched by the officer, a purse was found in his pantaloons pocket full of money.

Those are absolutely wonderful examples. Since this book is a reference text of sorts, we can assume that "copper" was in fairly regular usage by the mid-1850s. There you have it: "Copped" meant "arrested," and "coppers" were the officers that arrested people.

Answer 2

The word "Police" generally refers to an agency empowered to enforce laws and maintain public and social order. The term "Officer" generally refers to an agent working for the agency.

OR "POLICE" Means

P - Politically

O - Over

L - Licensed

I - Incompetent

C - Controlling

E - Entity

And "OFFICER" Means

O - Over

F - Forceful

F - Fearing

I - Incompetent

C - Controlling

E - Entity

R - Reviser

Answer 3

There is no way to find out the true original meaning behind the reason why that police officers are called cops, but the word cops is a shortened version of the word copper and Old English word.

Answer 4

The "Police" part comes from the fact that they are tasked with "policing" (the action).

Side note the Online Etymology Dictionary uses terms like "(late 15c.)" which I assume means "late 15th century" (The 15th century is the years 1400-1499, because the years 0-99 AD are "the first century.")

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary [1], the definition of police, (predating police-the-organization) dating back to the1530s is:

"the regulation and control of a community"

Its origins are "similar in sense to policy." The word comes from the Middle French word police meaning: "organized government, civil administration" (late 15c.), which itself comes from the Latin politia "civil administration," which in turn comes from Greek polis "city."

In constitutional law, police power is the power of a government to limit civil liberties and exercise restraint and compulsion over private rights, especially to advance or protect the public welfare.

Police officer is attested from 1794, American English.

Police Station is from 1817.

I can only answer half of your question. The explanation above is why the police officers are called police, but that is as far as my research and expertise go. But as for police officer...

An officer is a higher ranking member of an organization.

So I cannot offer an explanation as to why police officers are called officers, because as far as I am aware the police officer is the lowest ranking level in the police hierarchy. (Can someone correct me if I am wrong?)

In summary, I answered the first half of your question: "Why are police officers called police officers?" But someone else will need to add in an answer to the second half: "Why are police officers called police officers?"

[1] source: www etymonline com word Police

Answer 5

IDKy why it called that