Cop Speak: The Lingo of Law Enforcement and Crime
by Lewis J. Poteet, Aaron C. Poteet
Category: History

The work of a father and son, this lively word-book presents the slang of law enforcement officers, including prison guards, customs officers, and street cops. It includes language gathered both from working and ex-cops and from printed sources. It evokes the life of this key speech group in an America in crisis--the pride and solidarity, the shame of corruption and brutality, the horror and the excitement of life on the front of the thin blue line. It is the sixth of Lewis Poteet's slang dictionaries, the others having come out of Nova Scotia's South Shore, the Eastern Townships of Quebec, and the worlds of hockey, cars and motorcycles, and aviation. These words and definitions offer raw material for anyone interested in language and culture, and entertainment and enlightenment for anyone fascinated by the spectacle of this living busy world of law and outlaws. The main body of the book consists of words and phrases from police slang, followed by a personal account of Aaron's attraction to and formation in police work, a set of stories from Aaron's first employment in such work, an essay on Canadian, British, and American regional police cultures by Lewis, and a Poteet Cop Talk Quiz to test your knowledge of the slang.