‘One Time’: Police Slang Words And How Cops Got Those Nicknames

Law Enformcement Office with a Protective Shield

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The Black community has had a long and contentious history with law enforcement, stemming back to the early 1600s when members from the British colony implemented watch guards to patrol towns and cities for burglaries and arson. Patrol guards would also track down runaway slaves to maintain order and prevent rebellion. They were notorious for attacking and beating runaway slaves, a harsh and often cruel punishment for resisting authorities. Sadly, as slavery expanded throughout the south, the presence of the patrolmen increased.

“Everything that you can think of that a police officer can do today, they did it,” said Sally Hadden, a history professor at Western Michigan University told USA Today of Black people’s historic mistreatment by law enforcement. “The biggest thing is that they were race-focused as opposed to the police today, who should be race-neutral in their enforcement of law.”

When slavery was abolished in 1865, following the institution of the 13th Amendment, slave patrols turned into modern-day police departments and as Black people slowly began to obtain more rights, law enforcement officials implemented other ways to criminalize the Black community by restricted access to homeownership and even employment in some states.

Today, the police department’s inherently racist past continues to plague the Black community resulting in historic injustices of police brutality and unlawful sentencing of Black men in particular throughout the United States. According to the NAACP, statistics show that a Black man is five times more likely to be stopped without just cause than a white person. Sadly, Black men and women are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than their white counterparts. We’ve seen the harrowing statistic play out with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and more recently Patrick Lyoya, who was shot in the back of the head by a Michigan police officer earlier this month as he was surrendering.

Naturally, Black people have developed ways to protect themselves from the police through the use of slang. You made have heard of the terms “F*ck 12” or “5-0” but where do they come from and what do they even mean?

Let’s dissect a few police officer slang words below.

5-0: A term related to the television series “Hawaii Five-O,” a special elite task force whose mission was to eliminate crime on the beaches of the Aloha State.

“12”: Often refers to the Atlanta police code “10-12,” which is used by law enforcement to indicate when suspicious individuals are congregated where police are going according to “Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang” author Tom Dalzell. The popular police 1970s TV drama “Adam-12” also used the term. The show followed two LAPD officers as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles.

Heavy police presence around the protest area. Protesters by...

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Here are a few more you may or may not have heard of.

1-Time (One Time): Is a term used to describe police pulling up, or on their way to the spot. The term means you have ‘one time’ to get yourself right before the police show up. Some have described the meaning as, ‘to only make eye contact with police once, a second look will surely draw attention.’ It’s origins are unknown, but it is heavily used in the south as well as the west coast.

Po-Po: An abbreviated term used when referencing law enforcement.

Boys In Blue: A slang term referencing a police officer’s often blue uniform.

Fuzz: Originally a British English term referring to felt-covered helmets worn by London police officers, later borrowed into American English.

G-man: A term (derived from “government man”) from the mid-twentieth century, referring to FBI agents.

The heat: A reference to the pressure that law enforcement officials apply to suspects.

The man: A term alluding to the imposing authority of law enforcement personnel.

Pig: A derogatory term used for police. The pig is a fat and sloppy animal who will eat anything. Cops are often stereotyped as fat and out of shape. The term was made popular during U.S. protests in the 1960s and 1970s.

Ghetto Bird: A term to describe the police helicopter that swarms over the black communities. This term was made popular in Los Angeles as police helicopters are frequently used their to patrol the streets.

The Feds: A shortened version of federal, referring to federal law enforcement personnel like the FBI.

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Police Slang Words–How Cops Got Those Nicknames was originally published on newsone.com