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    How did the nickname of police "cops" happen?

    Question #112793. Asked by 29CoveRoad. (Feb 12 10 8:38 PM)


    snuiteke

    		In New York when the Police Officer's first uniforms came out , they had bright copper buttons. The slang term came about as a result of this.

    Actually, there are two theories. The answer above is one of them. The other theory is that "cops" is an abbreviation for "Constables On Patrol"

    http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_cops_become_a_name_for_police_officers

    Feb 12 10, 8:55 PM
    Baloo55th

    		I'd forget the acronym - they're usually made up to fit the word. "While commonly believed to be an acronym for Constable On Patrol, the term refers to "one who captures or snatches". This word first appeared in the early 18th century, and can be matched with the word "cap", which has the same meaning and whose etymology can be traced to the Latin word 'capere'." I don't usually copy and paste, but I couldn't improve on this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_slang_terms_for_police_officers (This is the one I knew previously as the origin.)

    Feb 13 10, 11:10 AM

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