Law Enforcement Jargon refers to a large body of acronyms, abbreviations, codes and slang used by law enforcement personnel to provide quick concise descriptions of people, places, property and situations, in both spoken and written communication. These vary between countries and to a lesser extent regionally.
ABH: Actual bodily harm
ARU: Armed Response Unit
ARV: Armed Response Vehicle
B&E: Breaking and entering
BIP: Burglary In Progress
BOP: Breach of the peace
D&D: Drunk And Disorderly
DIC: Drunk In Charge (of a vehicle)
DUI: Driving Under Influence (Drugs or Alcohol)(of a vehicle)
DIP: Drunk In Public
GBH: Grievous Bodily Harm
IRTC: Injury Road Traffic Collision
NFA: No Further Action or No Fixed Abode
PCSO: Police Community Support Officer; A civilian uniformed non-warranted officer. Alternatively a Police Custody and Security Officer in Scotland.
PNC: Police National Computer
PWITS: (pronounced peewits) Possession With Intent To Supply
RCU: Road Crime Unit
RTC: Road Traffic Collision
TAG: Tactical Aid Group
TDA: Taking and Driving Away
TFU: Tactical Firearms Unit
VDRS: Vehicle Defects Rectification Scheme
VSS: Victim Support Scheme
ACPO: Association of Chief Police Officers
ANPR: Automatic Number-Plate Recognition
CO19: Central Operations Specialist Firearms Command; A unit of the Metropolitan Police Service.
HOCR: Home Office Counting Rules
HOLMES: Home Office Large and Major Enquiry System; a computer system for major incidents
PACE: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; Act of parliament providing a core framework of police powers in England and Wales and safeguards around stop and search, arrest, detention, investigation, identification and interviewing detainees
NSPIS: National Strategy for Police Information Systems; a computer system for the management of police resources
SOCO: Scenes Of Crime Officer; a forensic crime scene examiner
TWOC: Taken Without Owner's Consent
AIO: All In Order
ATT: At This Time
MISPER: Missing person
MOE: Method Of Entry (battering ram)
WOFF: Write off; a vehicle or other property deemed a total loss for insurance purposes
WINQ: Warrant inquiry
Code 99: Tea break, "99" is a brand of Co-op tea. The Co-op is a popular UK supermarket chain.
NOK: Next Of Kin
NRRR: No Reply Repeated Ringing (telephone)
NRRK: No Reply Repeated Knocking (residence)
PAAOTCO: Please Ask An Officer To Call On...
POLSA: Police Search Advisor.
POLSTN: Police Station
POLCOL: Police Collsion
U/K: Unknown
Big Red Key: A type of battering ram.
Mistaken Harassment: Where a complainant alleging harassment is mistaken about the behaviour of another person because they have read more into that behaviour than was reasonable.
Numerical and alphanumerical codes
The ten-codes are used only for voice communications, usually radio transmissions and denote commonly used phrases; for example 10-16 means domestic disturbance for some agencies. Use of ten-codes is intended for the clear, quick, and concise communication between law enforcement officers.
The response codes consist of the word "Code" followed by a number; for example "Code 3" means lights and sirens.
Numbers and alphanumeric combinations referring to offenses and actions covered by legal codes are often used both as nouns and verbs in both spoken and written communication. Since each state has its own system of law, this usage varies widely by state. For example, in California, if a suspect is 849B'd, it means they are released from custody after being arrested (instead of being booked into county jail) and refers to section 849(b) of the California Penal Code.
Three letter abbreviations are commonly used to describe subjects mentioned in incident reports. The first letter denotes apparent race/ethnicity; the most commonly used letters are: A—Asian, B—Black, H—Hispanic, O—Other, W—White. The letters PI are occasionally used to denote Pacific Islander resulting in a four letter abbreviation [1]. The second letter denotes gender: F—Female, M—Male. The final letter denotes whether the subject is legally an adult: A—Adult, J—Juvenile. Thus the initialism WFJ (or wfj) appearing after a subject's name in a police log would denote a white female juvenile.
*Note: Names for offenses vary by jurisdiction; accordingly, several acronyms may mean the same thing
ADW: Assault with a Deadly Weapon
B&E: Breaking and Entering
BFW: Bond Forfeiture Warrant
DIP: Drunk In Public
DOC: Department of Corrections
DUI: Driving Under the Influence [of alcohol or drugs]
DWI: Driving While Intoxicated
DWS: Driving While Suspended
DWLS / DWLR: Driving While License Suspended / Revoked
DUS: Driving Under Suspension
FTA: Failure to Appear
GTA: Grand Theft Auto
HS: Health and Safety Code
LFA: Larceny from Automobile
MIC/MIP: Minor in Consumption/Possession [of alcohol]
PC: Penal Code
PI: Public Intoxication
UDAA: Unlawfully Driving Away an Automobile
UUMV: Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle
VC: Vehicle Code
WI: Welfare & Institutions Code
Fel.: Felony
Misd.: Misdemeanor
Inf.: Infraction
ATL: Attempt To Locate
BOLO: Be On Lookout (pronounced as Bo-Low)
DB: Dead Body
DID: Driver in Ditch
DOA: Dead On Arrival
EDP: Emotionally Disturbed Person
GOA: Gone On Arrival
IFO: In Front Of
LKA: Last Known Address
LNU: Last Name Unknown
QOA: Quiet On Arrival
UTL: Unable To Locate
Alley court: Unlawfully endeavouring to force a prisoner to make a confession.
Testilying: Police perjury.
Miscellaneous abbreviations and descriptive terms
Adam Henry (AH, i.e., "Asshole"): Ignorant individual slang [see HUA]
AKA: Also Known As (Person has assumed name, aliases)
APB: All Points Bulletin
APC: All Points County
AVL: Automatic Vehicle Location; allows dispatch to see exactly where a given patrol car is
BOLO: Similar to APB, Be On The Look Out [for]
CJ: County Jail
Civies: term describing non uniform clothing used in undercover operations
CompStat: method of tracking criminal activity and subsequent enforcement
Condition: problem or concern in need of police attention
DA: District Attorney
DL: Driver's License
DOC: Department of Corrections
DOB: Date Of Birth
DOJ: Department of Justice
DV: Domestic Violence
EC: Emergency Contact
ETOH: Intoxicated (Ethyl Alcohol)
FD: Fire Department
FTO: Field Training Officer
GAT: Illegal firearm
GOA: Gone On Arrival
GSW: Gunshot wound
HBO: Handled By Officer
House mouse: A police officer who seldom leaves the police station
HP: Highway Patrol
HUA: Ignorant slang [see AH or "Adam Henry"]
KA: Known Associate
LEDS/LEADS: Law Enforcement (Agencies) Data System
LUDS: Local Usage Details. A detailed record of calls made and received from a particular phone number.
MDT: Mobile Data Terminal, referring to in-car computer systems.
MHO: Mental Health Officer
MUTT: An extremely unsavory character
MVA: Motor Vehicle Accident
NAT: Necessary Action Taken
NORP: Normal, Ordinary, Responsible Person
OLN: Operator's License Number
PA: Prosecuting Attorney
PC: Probable Cause — legal standard of proof that is greater than reasonable suspicion
PD: Police Department or Police Headquarters
PMVA: Pedestrian Motor Vehicle Accident
PR: Person (or Party) Reporting (used by LAPD and various others)
PUKE: A pejorative for an inmate of the county jail or state prison
RDO: Regular Day Off
Responsible (RESP): Alleged perpetrator of a violation
RO: Registered Owner
RP: Reporting Person/Party
SA: State's Attorney
Skell: Unsavory character, particularly in the sense of being unwashed, dirty, or smelly (term often used by NY Police Officers)
SKELL GEL: Anti bacterial lotion used by Officers after contact with skell(s)
SNEU: Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit
SO: Sheriff's Office
SOC: Social Security Number
SOR: Sex Offender Registration/Registrant
SRO: School Resource Officer
UTL: Unable To Locate
WOOD SHAMPOO: Using less than lethal force to gain compliance
AFIS: Automated fingerprint identification system
CODIS: Combined DNA Index System
UNSUB: Unknown Subject(of an investigation)
IAFIS: Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
NCIC: National Crime Information Center
SWAT: A police department's special weapons and tactics unit
VIN: Vehicle Identification Number
B&R: Booked and released (from county jail)
BKD: Booked (into county jail)
BLK: Street block
BTWN: Between
BUS: Ambulance
COMPL: Complainant
Copy: Affirmative
DESC: Description
JUV: Juvenile
K9: (or K-9), handler-and-canine unit
MOD: Model (of vehicle, for example)
M/N: Model Number (of article, for example)
PROP: Property
PERP: Perpetrator
R&I: Records and Information
REG: Vehicle registration
RELD/RLSD: Released
RPTS: Reports (verb)
SER: Serial number
S/N: Serial number
S/H: Station house
SUSP: Suspect
S/V: Suspect Vehicle
TKN: Taken
TANGO: Thank You
UNK: Unknown
UTL: Unable To Locate
VEH: Vehicle
VIC: Victim
V/C: Victim / Complainant
WARR: Warrant
Law enforcement jargon is heavily used in police procedurals and similar shows. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a television series about forensic scientists, uses many acronyms such as AFIS, CODIS and DB.
Some shows, like "Adam-12" and CSI will use the criminal code, for where the show is based, to describe a crime. This would be understood by people from that state or others in the know, but would be nonsense for others.
The numeric code 187 from the California Penal Code section dealing with murder has been featured in numerous songs, including the gangsta rap song Deep Cover by Dr. Dre and the alternative hip hop-ska punk song April 29, 1992 (Miami) by Sublime. It also serves as the title of the movie One Eight Seven. A police drama show called "Detroit 1-8-7" aired in the U.S. on the ABC network in 2010 - 2011, which made no sense because 187 does not denote murder under Michigan law.
