The Language of Policing

In 1066 AD, the British government fell to the French Speaking William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. For the next three hundred years, the ruling class on the British Isles spoke French. Generally in world history, when a people is conquered, they will begin to speak the language of the ruling authority, as the Hellenistic Mediterranean has done before. The English working class however, simply refused. They would not speak or even learn French. Eventually, the French speaking gentry learned that if they wanted to sway their houses, they would have to learn the lingua franca and so a linguistic revolution occurred. For the first time ever, the rulers of a country had to start speaking the language of the ruled. Finally, with Charles II, the English once again had an English speaking ruler. Their nation had survived, in no small part because of the common person's refusal to accept the language (and thereby the nationality) of the conquering power.

What I am saying is; language is an important aspect of our identity. In an e-mail conversation with Christina, I mentioned that I would like someone to write a book on the grammar and language of the Police Department. You see, police officers have their own language. We have ways of talking to each other that the public does not understand. Ways of saying and writing things that take on a life of their own, based on our own needs in working together.

For example, we have a written language in our correspondence to one another via the MDC (mobile data computer, the thing that looks like a laptop in our cars). Here is a common conversation between my partner and I:

Me: 20?

Him: 23/Penn

Me: R/V?

Him: NRT.

Here is the translation:

Me: Where are you?

Him: NW 23rd and Pennsylvania.

Me: Would you like to meet at the convienence store at Reno and Villa?

Him: En route, which of course means, on my way.

It's a language based on common knowledge. When I ask "20?" he knows that it is an abbreviation of 10-20, the 10 code for "what is your location." When I ask "R/V?" he knows that I mean Reno and Villa because meeting there is a common experience for both of us. The brevity of our language comes from necessity. We are typing and driving at the same time (by which I mean that we are pulling over to type messages per departmental policy and best safe driving practices.)

The language that we have becomes part of our identity as police officers. It becomes part of our brotherhood, one more thing that sets us apart from society and makes us our own culture. Is it any wonder we take care of our own? Is it any wonder cops tend to have only cop friends and cop relationships and cop hang outs?