# Why are the police called cops, pigs, or the fuzz?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-police-called-cops-pigs-or-the-fuzz/316622>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [August 11, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-police-called-cops-pigs-or-the-fuzz/316622 "2005-08-11T18:32:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fybo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9de053/32.png) [@fybo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fybo)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-police-called-cops-pigs-or-the-fuzz/316622/1 "2005-08-11T18:32:59Z")

</div>

## Why are the police called cops, pigs, or the fuzz? [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcop.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcop.html)

I am a Police Constable in Scotland, UK, and the general opinion of where the word “cop” came from is Constables On Patrol.

The UK has been credited with revolutionalising modern policing, as the staff writer says about bobbies on the beat. This literally meant police officers on every street corner, hence, Constables On Patrol.

Thanks,

Fybo.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-police-called-cops-pigs-or-the-fuzz/316622/2 "2005-08-11T21:08:33Z")

</div>

The “Constable On Patrol” theory is an old one.

But it’s not old enough. No one can find any evidence for it until long after “cop” had become common language on both sides of the Atlantic.

And it’s a rule of thumb in English that all explanations of words as deriving from the initials of a phrase are wrong, unless they are no older than the Second World War.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-police-called-cops-pigs-or-the-fuzz/316622/3 "2005-08-12T18:34:18Z")

</div>

Keep up the good work, fibo. There are so many derogatory nicknames for police officers I can’t keep up with them.