It does. I was trying to avoid bringing that up, but in one of those examples there’s “a male Assyrian” and “a male black” in close proximity. It was easier to find an example of “male black” than “male white,” too.
That makes some sense. Of course you could also just give an approximation of the age, which seems to happen a lot anyway.
As the saying goes, form follows function. But no it is not always needed but it evolved from a particular function.
"late 14c., “judge or authority on civil law,” from Old French civilien “of the civil law,” created from Latin civilis “relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen; popular, affable, courteous” (see civil). Sense of “non-military person” is attested by 1819 (earlier in this sense was civilian, attested from c.1600 as “non-soldier”). The adjective is from 1640s. "
and there’s this:
http://pl.atyp.us/wordpress/index.php/2009/03/police-vs-civilians/
But in any case, 'civilian meant "Non -military " for at least 600 years and just recently, due to common USA Police usage, became to change it’s meaning- in some US descriptivist dictionaries- to include ‘non-police’.
Show that many dictionaries do not include police as non-civilain, and in fact in some they are defined as civilian.
But even if the Police do use it thusly, and even if the word IS changing it’s US definition due to that usage, it’s a bad idea. It perpetuates a “us vs them” where “them” is the tax-paying, voting, law abiding citizenry, the very “them’ the police should feel a part of.
I read a police report once where the officer, talking about a combative man he was trying to arrest, wrote that he “escorted [the man] to the ground.”
My friends and I now jokingly threaten to escort each other to the ground.
I witnessed an instance in which some bad guy, trying to evade cops, burst into a residential-sort of home (actually, a nursing home) and hid in a second-floor room and barricaded the door. When the cops came knocking, he jumped out of the window (right into the arms of some other cops who were waiting there).
One of the cops told another cop (or maybe he told the dispatcher): “Suspect did a gravity check.”
But whatever a cop says or does, just be sure never to refer to black people as “gorillas in the mist”
Lucky you. My agency writes reports about a particular person, not an incident. The name only appears in the heading. After that it’s " The subject …" . And it’s bled over into other forms of written communication. I don’t get emails that say " I have reviewed the draft policy and ..“. It’s always " This writer has reviewed the draft policy and…”
In fact, don’t say this even if you aren’t a cop.
And it’s not just professional image, either. Take a small SUV. I might call it a truck, or a car or an SUV. Which is fine in 90% of my life. Except when I’m writing a report. Although I’m not a police officer, I’ve spent a lot of time testifying. And I really, really don’t want to use one term in a report and a different one when I’m testifying. Even though it probably doesn’t matter what type of vehicle it is , it’s easy for the opposing attorney to use against me.
Then, of course, there is the other end of the spectrum - The Arcata (CA) Eye Police Log.
Perhaps this only occurs on TV cop shows, not IRL, but I have oft wondered why cops say “GSW” instead of “gunshot wound,” when “gunshot wound” is faster to say than the abbreviation.
I’d guess because it’s a lot shorter to write and they have to read a lot of things that other cops wrote, so eventually it just sticks.
On a related note, I have heard the term “perp” (short for perpetrator) used by all of law enforcement (real life, TV, and movies) for decades. The only other word I ever noticed as a substitution was “suspect.”
Last year, I watched an episode of a cop show (Blue Bloods, perhaps?) with my wife, and they were all saying “do-er.” Did they make that up for the show, or is it replacing “perp”? I’ve never heard it anywhere else.
That makes zero sense. Do you realize that the military is also part of the tax-paying, voting, law abiding citizenry? You don’t give up your citizenship when you join the military. So why is that ok in your mind.
On one hand you have an armed uniformed force with military rank structure, military discipline and the camaraderie that comes from facing danger together. On the other hand you have the armed forces. But since I’ve spent 24 years in the active duty army and the army national guard your just a damn civilian to me and there is nothing you can do about it:D
This thread is reminding me of Fargo: “He’s fleeing the interiew! He’s fleeing the interiew!”
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:52, topic:653358”]
On a related note, I have heard the term “perp” (short for perpetrator) used by all of law enforcement (real life, TV, and movies) for decades. The only other word I ever noticed as a substitution was “suspect.”
Last year, I watched an episode of a cop show (Blue Bloods, perhaps?) with my wife, and they were all saying “do-er.” Did they make that up for the show, or is it replacing “perp”? I’ve never heard it anywhere else.
[/QUOTE]
Was it possibly “Cold Case” you were watching ? That’s the only time I’ve ever heard do-er ( either TV or IRL)- I always wondered if it was Philadelphia-specific.
My own theory about old time police jargon is that in the last century police officers were not well educated or well paid. In order to not have them sound like complete idiots they were taught to speak that way. Things have changed. Most departments require college. We have quite a few people with advanced degrees. We are paid well enough to have a lot of competition for jobs. That 1950s police jargon isn’t as prevalent these days but some remains.
See to me that means something specific. Being escorted to the ground means getting put into a restraint hold like an arm bar and being guided in a controlled manner to the ground. If there was a dog pile or a violent take down I would not use that language.
That is awful. Luckily I was never taught that way. Even in the academy many moons ago we were told to stay away from that style.
To me GSW is more of an emergency medicine term rather than a cop term. I have never used the term in a report and I’ve have heard it much more from paramedics than from cops.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:52, topic:653358”]
On a related note, I have heard the term “perp” (short for perpetrator) used by all of law enforcement (real life, TV, and movies) for decades. The only other word I ever noticed as a substitution was “suspect.”
Last year, I watched an episode of a cop show (Blue Bloods, perhaps?) with my wife, and they were all saying “do-er.” Did they make that up for the show, or is it replacing “perp”? I’ve never heard it anywhere else.
[/QUOTE]
The NYPD is a whole other animal. There are 40,000 of them. They have their own culture. Whenever we have had to deal with them they love to throw the NY cop talk at us. It’s like talking to Andy Sipowitz. It’s like they are all caricatures.
Eta I have never heard anyone I work with use the term perpetrator in an unironic way. I’ve only used and heard “suspect”.
It could well be. I don’t watch many TV shows and there are so many police procedurals out there I get them mixed up – especially if I’ve only seen the show once or twice.
From what little I’ve seen, their cultural appears less law enforcement and more military than any police department I’ve had personal experience with. I’ve known police chiefs in cities ranging from 2,300 people up to about 210,000, and I have never seen officers saluting the chief or someone yelling TEN-HUT when he walks into the room, but that’s how the NYPD is often depicted. Is that accurate?
Exactly, it makes no sense, thus it’s not OK. The police are Citizens & Civilians, just like the people they are protecting and work for.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:52, topic:653358”]
On a related note, I have heard the term “perp” (short for perpetrator) used by all of law enforcement (real life, TV, and movies) for decades. The only other word I ever noticed as a substitution was “suspect.”
Last year, I watched an episode of a cop show (Blue Bloods, perhaps?) with my wife, and they were all saying “do-er.” Did they make that up for the show, or is it replacing “perp”? I’ve never heard it anywhere else.
[/QUOTE]
I read police reports and talk to them. Never heard “do-et”. Suspect & Perp, but mainly “scumbag” etc if it’s not a written report.
As are the military. But for some reason you feel that separating them is just fine. I don’t get it.
If you are a language purist, fine. That’s your option. I don’t quite understand that either myself. The language purists I run into seem to want the language to stop right at the time they grew up. But for some reason they have no problem with the fact that we don’t speak Middle English.