# Police and SWAT team; how far is a "Click" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580 "2004-02-28T04:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580/1 "2004-02-28T04:47:04Z")
I have heard this on “24” and in some cases, in law enforcement. ‘Ima Villian is 2 clicks to the left’ ok, what am I supposed to do with this info? could it also be “Ima is 2 clicks ahead” ? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580/2 "2004-02-28T04:54:15Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > I have heard this on “24” and in some cases, in law enforcement. > > ‘Ima Villian is 2 clicks to the left’ > > ok, what am I supposed to do with this info? > > could it also be “Ima is 2 clicks ahead” ? It’s kliks, and it’s a kilometer (0.6 mile). ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580/3 "2004-02-28T05:04:46Z")
Thanks, I never saw the term written down… so Click was how I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580/4 "2004-02-28T16:18:29Z")
Yeah, you really have to listen closely to hear those Ks. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580/5 "2004-02-28T18:09:36Z")
The term is also used in the military. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580/6 "2004-02-28T19:52:11Z")
I’m mildly curious as to why this question keeps coming up. The term has been in use for a long time, and I remember that when I first heard it, I inferred “kilometers” from context immediately. It just seemed “natural”, somehow. BTW, I’ve seen it spelled “click”, “klick” and “klik”. It seems to me that “klick” is the way I’ve most commonly seen it. The AHD gives “klick” and “klik” as spellings. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580/7 "2004-02-28T20:06:09Z")
I also find it curious that slang usage invented “klick” instead of the more logical “klom” to shorten the word “kilometer”, even if I DID understand “klick” from context. That a slang usage would arise is reasonable - “kilometer” is 4 syallables, and a bit much if you’re saying it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-and-swat-team-how-far-is-a-click/231580/8 "2004-02-28T20:15:27Z")
Just a guess at etomology but I belive ‘klick’ was orginally speed then used for distance. I first heard the term used for kilometers per hour. A ‘klick’ was to kilometers what knot was to miles.