“Cop out” and “cop a plea” and “fair cop” are all mentioned in the Staff Report.
If you’d read the Staff Report before posting, we’d save duplication of effort. < grin >
I don’t think anyone has posted what I’ve always thought to be the derivation of “cop” for the police - the Old English word for spider/spiderweb. (I think I picked that up from The Hobbit 
)
From the AOL online M-W dictionary:
Main Entry: cob·web
Pronunciation: 'käb-"web
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English coppeweb, from coppe spider (from Old English Atorcoppe) + web; akin to Middle Dutch coppe spider
Date: 14th century
1 a : the network spread by a spider : SPIDERWEB b : tangles of the silken threads of a cobweb usually covered with accumulated dirt and dust
2 : something that entangles,
Mentioned. Hmmp. My cite did more with those than just mention. Hmmp.
On cobwebs, see Straight Dope Staff Report: Are cobwebs made by spiders? … the Archives are your friend.
Sorry, Exapno, I thought you were adding some words rather than expanding what was written. My error.
Thanks, Dex. I didn’t realize that cop (as opposed to cob, I guess) webs are the irregular offerings of spiders.
However, that doesn’t alter my opinion that cop for police may come from the term cop-webs. I haven’t been able to find anything to either defend or defy that statement, but I’m sure you’re a better researcher than I.
As for the Archives, yes I’d love to devote days to them, but damm it, reality kicks in!!
As a newbie, I’m trying my best to conform to the SD rules, but I can only read so much ‘back information’, as well as keeping up with new posts. (Q: How many posts are there in a 24 hour period, on average?) I want to keep up with current discusions, as well as understand older matters. I admit I’m not capable of doing both - which would you suggest I follow – older threads which may have some interesting content, or new posts, which may repeat older threads of which I’m not cognizant.
So, given limited time, which should I peruse - Archives or current posts?
Wanting to be a valued SD poster,
Cuda
It’s impossible to keep up with all posts. Don’t even bother trying. Just read those threads which seem interesting to you. Yes, for a newbie, they can all seem interesting, but that will pass.
For the Archives, I would just recommend that you read the new columns as they come out, and occasionally look through a few old ones. There’s no hurry, they’re not going anywhere.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound critical. There’s a LOT of Archives to go through. Of course, if you become a member, then you can do searches on specific items as they come up. < grin >