police, n.
Forms:
α. lME– police, 15 polyce, 15 polyse, 15–16 pollice, 18 poliece, 19– perlice (U.S. regional); Sc. pre-17 polece, pre-17 polese, pre-17 pollece, pre-17 pollice, pre-17 pollyce, pre-17 polyce, pre-17 17– police, 18 poleece, 18 polees, 18 poleesh, 18 poleish, 18 poliesh, 18– pleece, 18– p'leece, 19– paleece (Shetland).
β. Sc. pre-17 porice.
See also polis n.1(Show Less)Etymology:
< Middle French, French police public order, administration, government (late 14th cent.; perhaps c1250 in Old French in form pollice in sense ‘regulation of trades, etc., in a town’, although only recorded in a late 16th-cent. copy), good order, good administration (early 15th cent.), administration, legislation (of a town) (1426), control exercised over the courts (1477), public order assured by the state (mid 15th cent.), collection of legislative or administrative measures governing and facilitating social life (1451), conduct, practice, manner of acting (15th cent.), organization or body for public order (1584), set of rules of a state (1606), order and regulations established in a society, assembly, or other body (1636), administration watching over the upholding of rules which guarantee public security (1651) < post-classical Latin politia (see policy n.1); French police arises from variants of post-classical Latin politia with stress on the root, while French policie policy n.1 arises from variants of post-classical Latin politia with stress on the suffix. However, a number of the senses of French police are represented more commonly in English by policy n.1 Compare also polity n.1
In early use in prose texts in sense 1 the spelling police could alternatively be interpreted as showing policy n.1; forms in final -e (as opposed to -y , -ie , -ye , etc.) are placed at the present entry where there is not clear metrical evidence to the contrary. The Older Scots plural forms policeis , polyceis are here taken as showing plural forms of policy n.1 (and hence are treated at that entry), whereas pollyces is taken as showing the plural of the present word. In early use apparently frequently pronounced with stress on the first syllable, as it still often is in Scots, Irish English, and in regional (north-eastern) English use: compare polis n.1
†I. Policy.
1. = policy n.1 in various senses. Obs.In later use esp. in public police.
c1450
(▸c1440)
S. Scrope in tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea
(Longleat)
(1904)
3
He exercisyd his knyghtly labowris..in grete police vsyng, as of grete cowneseylles and wysdomys.
▸a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng.
(Laud)
(1885)
148
Thies counsellors mowe contenually..comune and delibre..vppon suche oþer poyntes off police.
a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome f. 293, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Police,
And gif this had cours it wauld trouble all realmes and police.
a1540
(▸c1460)
G. Hay tr. Bk. King Alexander 14661
That..he sulde mak sacrefice And for that offerand ordant grete police The grete ymage war crovyn of gold fyne.
1568 D. Lindsay Complaynt 403 in Wks.
(1931)
I. 50
Polyce and Peace begynnis to plant.
1606 in Lett. Eccl. Affairs Scotl.
(1851)
I. 46
Bothe in the kirk and police.
1640 T. Nabbes Bride i. iii. sig. B4,
What more police Could I be guilty of?
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng.
(1850)
I. 297
Hewing doun the plesant planting..to the distroying of goodlie countrie pollice.
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 208
Assisted by the police and interests of the Roman see.
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. I. i. 24
It was an object of public police, as well as of private curiosity, to examine and describe the countries which composed this great body.
1874 R. Black tr. M. Guizot Pop. Hist. France III. xxviii. 29
The king..forbade the University to meddle in any matter of public police.
c1450—1874(Hide quotations)
II. Organization, or a controlling body, within a community.
†2. Social or communal organization; civilization. Obs.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 167
All substantyues endyng in ice be of the masculyne gendre, except justice, justyce; malice malyce, and police, polyce.
1536 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 42 §1
The knowlege of suche other good letters as in christoned Realmes be expedyent to be lerned for the conservacion of their good pollices.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl.
(1979)
xvii. 114
Nature prouokit them to begyn sum litil police for sum of them began to plant treis, sum to dant beystis, sum gadthrid the frutis.
1747 T. Carte Gen. Hist. Eng. I. v. 380
Having established an admirable order and police throughout his territories.
1791 E. Burke Let. to Member Nat. Assembly 22
A barbarous nation [sc. the Turks], with a barbarous neglect of police, fatal to the human race.
1820 J. R. Johnson tr. P. Huber Nat. Hist. Ants 2
These insects, whose faculties, police, and sagacity have been, by some authors, as much overrated, as by others not duly appreciated.
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil ii. iii. 119
These hovels were in many instances not provided with the commonest conveniences of the rudest police; contiguous to every door might be observed the dung-heap.
1530—1845(Hide quotations)
3.
†a. orig. Sc. The regulation and control of a community; the maintenance of law and order, provision of public amenities, etc. Obs.In Great Britain the word first came into official use in Scotland where on 13 Dec. 1714 Queen Anne appointed Commissioners of Police, consisting of six noblemen and four gentlemen, for the general internal administration of the country. The word was still viewed with disfavour after 1760. A writer in the British Mag., Apr. 1763, p. 542, offers the opinion that ‘from an aversion to the French..and something under the name of police being already established in Scotland, English prejudice will not soon be reconciled to it’. In the 19th cent. the name Commissioners of Police or Police Commission was given to the local bodies having control of the police force in burghs and police burghs in Scotland.
1698 G. Ridpath Political Mischiefs of Popery 39
The King in that case should mightily increase his Revenue; the Officers of Justice, of the Police or Discipline of Cities..would get twice as much Riches as they do.
1716 London Gaz. No. 5449/3
Charles Cockburn, Esq. to be one of the Commissioners of Police in North Britain.
1751 C. Morris Observ. London (title-page),
Observations [etc.]..to which are added, some Proposals for the better Regulation of the Police of this Metropolis.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia xv. 277
A Professorship for Law and Police.
1795 J. Aikin Descr. Country round Manch. 263
The police of the town is managed by two constables.
1826 J. Kent Comm. Amer. Law I. ii. 42
The consular convention between France and this country, allowed consuls to exercise police over all vessels of their respective nations.
1877 J. Morley Crit. Misc. 2nd Ser. 39
Such legislation was part of the general police of the realm.
1698—1877(Hide quotations)
b. Mil. (chiefly U.S.). The cleaning or keeping clean of a camp or garrison; the cleanliness and orderliness of a camp or garrison. Now rare.
1761 Ess. Art War 105
The Police of his Camp was much better than that of Copenhagen which he besieged.
1779 Jrnls. Continental Congr. 1774–89
(Library of Congress)
(1909)
XIII. 42
He is so far as concerns his brigade, to inspect the police of the camp, the discipline and order of the service.
1834 J. Kemper in Wisconsin Hist. Coll.
(1898)
XIV. 412
The towels, basins &c. here are not what they ought to be. The police of the boat is bad.
1894 Outing July 312/2
The camp was at all times in good police.
1903 L. C. Hatch Admin. Amer. Revolutionary Army
(1904)
130
There was also a board of war to superintend the police of the camp.
1761—1903(Hide quotations)
c. orig. Sc. Public regulation or control of trade in a particular product. Now hist. and rare.
1767 J. Steuart Inq. Polit. Oecon. I. xxxi. 489
Such a police upon grain, as might keep the price of it within determined limits.
1800 A. Young Question of Scarcity Plainly Stated 2
The Police of Corn has not been sufficiently studied.
1865 M. L. Booth tr. H. Martin Hist. France II. v. 448
The parliaments of Paris and Dijon, which had undertaken to interfere on their own authority in the police of grain.
1977 Amer. Hist. Rev. 82 1263/2
Should the state continue its traditional policy of pragmatic intervention and ‘police’ of the grain trade.
1767—1977(Hide quotations)
†4. orig. Sc. A department of a government or state concerned with maintaining public order and safety, and enforcing the law. Obs.In later use passing into sense 5a.
1740 C. Cibber Apol. Life C. Cibber ix. 184
We are so happy, as not to have a certain Power among us, which in another Country is call'd the Police.
1774 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772 128
The police of Glasgow consists of three bodies; the magistrates with the town council, the merchants house, and the trades house.
1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper I. 110
An insinuation so injurious to the honour of my country; which is governed by so supremely vigilant and wise a police.
1825 in W. Hone Every-day Bk.
(1826)
I. 441
Stepney, Hampstead, Westend, and Peckham fairs have been crushed by the police, that ‘stern, rugged nurse’ of national morality.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. vi. 667
The police of the country, by which is meant that department of government which has for its object the maintenance of the internal peace and prevention of crimes, the protection of public order and public health.
1740—1863(Hide quotations)
5.
a. The civil force of a state responsible for maintaining public order and enforcing the law, including preventing and detecting crime; (with pl. concord) members of a police force, police officers; the local constabulary.The earliest use in this sense occurs in Marine Police (see marine n. 6), the name given to the force instituted c1798 (originally by private enterprise) to protect merchant shipping on the River Thames in the Port of London. The police force established for London in 1829 was for some time known as the New Police (see New Police n. at new adj. and n. Special uses 2a).
1798 Duke of Portland Let. 16 May in P. Colquhoun Treat. Commerce & Police R. Thames
(1800)
160
(note)
The expence of the Marine Police Establishment, which appeared to me ought to be borne by Government.
1800 P. Colquhoun Treat. Commerce & Police R. Thames 219
To place their Vessels..under the protection of the Police.
1826 Scott Malachi Malagrowther ii. 41
A strong and well-ordered police would prevent the fatal agitations of a mob.
1831 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 87/1
The alleged incompetency and misconduct of watchmen formed the great pretext for establishing the Police.
1867 Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. viii. 60
Later in the day, he declared that the police should fetch him.
1885 Times 17 Apr. 6/4
If they did not leave peaceably, they would be batoned by the police.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. viii. [Lestrygonians] 156
Squads of police marching out, back.
1970 Daily Tel. 27 June 1/4
One hundred police and 200 civilians yesterday searched lonely country around Stephen's home.
1989 G. Vanderhaeghe Homesick xvii. 230
It made Vera nervous that some Nosy Parker would report her to the police for serving liquor in an unlicenced establishment.
2004 Kansas City Star
(Nexis)
6 Aug. b7
Local police are warning about an escalation in the gang wars.
1798—2004(Hide quotations)
b. Any similar force officially instituted or employed to keep order, enforce regulations, etc. Freq. as the second element in compounds. Also fig.
1818 Times 27 Aug. 3/2
Offences which overstep this bound are liable to punishment by the University Police.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. ii. vi. 495
He might have desired originally to maintain the troops in the Netherlands, as an armed police on which he could rely to enforce the execution of his orders.
1880 Contemp. Rev. 37 477
He believed in a..kind of watchful police of spirits and local heroes dead and gone before.
1933 Polit. Sci. Q. 48 268
The wide area of activity of the railway police.
2004 Canberra Times
(Nexis)
7 Aug. b10
Forestry police say Safari World had previously sought licences for 14 orang-utans.
1818—2004(Hide quotations)
c. In extended (freq. humorous) use as the second element in compounds: a group of people seen as regulating or enforcing rules in a specified aspect of life.Earliest in thought police n. at thought n. Compounds 2.
1952 Analysis 13 11
The ideal of correctness is a deadening one,..it is in vain to set up a language police to stem living developments.
1988 N.Y. Times
(Nexis)
22 May ii. 38/1
A regional magazine..has deputized its 105,000 readers as members of the Grammar Police.
2003 JazzTimes Sept. 106/3
The sort of imaginative choices that are sure to incite harsh criticism from the conservative jazz police.
1952—2003(Hide quotations)
6. regional (chiefly Sc., U.S., W. Afr., and Caribbean). As a count noun: a police officer.Count noun use is usual in colloquial Caribbean English.
1839 Chicago Amer. 5 Sept.
There is a police in attendance..in the theatre.
1856 ‘M. Twain’ Adv. T. J. Snodgrass
(1928)
8
He was a police.
1924 Mem. Amer. Folklore Soc. 17 126
An' he sen' for a police an' tak up Anansi same time.
1960 Huntly Express 19 Aug. 7
It was all over the market that ‘the unco man wis a p'leece wi' plain claes’.
1988 E. Lovelace Brief Conversion 106
If you see Jobe tell him a police outside looking for him.
2002 Sunday Gleaner
(Kingston, Jamaica)
17 Mar. f10/3
Why you was acting so suspicious? You think I was a police?
1839—2002(Hide quotations)
Compounds
C1. General attrib. (chiefly in senses 4, 5).
police act n.
1758 J. Fielding
(title)
An account of the origin and effects of a Police Act, set on foot by his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, in the year 1753.
1862 N.Y. Times 9 Jan. 8/2
The Police Act of 1860 provides for the appointment of forty Captains and sixty Sergeants.
2002 Edmonton Sun
(Nexis)
12 Dec. 11
The discredited committee studying a new police act.
1758—2002(Hide quotations)
police agent n.
1813 Times 2 Sept. 3/1
To counteract these rumours, Savary, the notorious Police Agent, had thought it necessary to circulate a sort of Bulletin.
1930 G. B. Shaw Apple Cart p. xvi,
Proletariats are never revolutionary, and..their direct action, when it is controlled at all, is usually controlled by police agents.
1987 R. Hall Kisses of Enemy
(1990)
ii. xxxviii. 205
Was he a police agent? A rapist? A plainclothes priest?
1813—1987(Hide quotations)
police ball n.
1872 Titusville
(Pa.)
Morning Herald 16 Sept. 3/5
The Police Ball to-night. The Policeman's Ball, which was postponed for one week, will take place to-night.
1931 Times 30 Nov. 14/5
When the fire was discovered, police and other officials were dancing at the local police ball.
2003 Herald Express
(Torquay)
(Nexis)
15 Apr. 19
The boys and girls in blue, and their partners, raised £1,600 for three good causes at their annual Police Ball.
1872—2003(Hide quotations)
police barge n.
1838 J. Pardoe River & Desert II. 111
The gaily-painted and clean-looking police-barge.
1947 Syracuse
(N.Y.)
Herald-Jrnl. 13 Feb. 18/5
Two explosions..sank a small Government fisheries launch and damaged a police barge.
1999 Courier Mail
(Queensland)
(Nexis)
4 May 8
Macleay Island residents want the State Government to shelve plans for a $250,000 police barge in favour of a police station on the island.
1838—1999(Hide quotations)
police boat n.
1798 Times 26 July 3/4
Since the regular night surveys of police-boats have taken place upon Mr. Colquhoun's plan, nothing is to be seen upon the river.
1890 A. Conan Doyle Sign of Four ix. 182,
I shall want a fast police-boat—a steam-launch—to be at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock.
2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 8 Oct. 77/1
Police boats floated in the small lake that surrounds the Parliament building, ready to repel any attack.
1798—2000(Hide quotations)
police cadet n.
1884 Times 4 Dec. 5/1
The English police cadets received official notice to-day that their services were no longer required.
1959 M. Gilbert Blood & Judgement xii. 131
A police cadet motor-cyclist was propping his machine up.
1992 New Republic 30 Nov. 10/1
Several hundred border guards and police cadets in plainclothes.
1884—1992(Hide quotations)
police camp n.
1832 Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pa.) 25 Dec.
It was in his parish that a police camp was lately formed to protect the tithe keepers.
1910 A. L. Haydon Riders of Plains 114
The serviceable portion of the lumber from which the old buildings had been constructed was conveyed to the Police camp.
1996 P. Godwin Mukiwa
(1997)
iv. 58
The old police camp was next door.
1832—1996(Hide quotations)
police cell n.
1845 Times 19 Apr. 5/1
He is thereby taken charge (not care) of by the police, and consigned to the horrors of a police cell.
1965 D. Francis For Kicks xix. 240
Four nights and three days in a police cell.
2002 Chicago Sun-Times
(Nexis)
20 Aug. 20
Supporters of the president have moved on to several farms in the eastern part of the country while the owners were in police cells.
1845—2002(Hide quotations)
police charge-sheet n.
1839 Times Nov. 12 7/3
A well-dressed person, who was entered on the police charge sheet as Mr. Price Dutton, of No. 11, St. Peter's-square, Hammersmith.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. viii. [Lestrygonians] 174
Police chargesheets crammed with cases get their percentage manufacturing crime.
2003 Time Mag.
(Nexis)
27 Oct. 58
Several of Ghia's foreign clients have been named in the police charge sheet.
1839—2003(Hide quotations)
police chief n.
1831 Times 20 Dec. 3/4
A large party of police, under the command of Mr. Gibbons, Police Chief, stationed at Piltown.
1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest xxii. 215,
I wondered if the little gambler had done it, or if this was another of the wrong raps that Poisonville police chiefs liked to hang on him.
2003 New Yorker 8 Sept. 35/3
That same recent issue of the Iconoclast reported that the Crawford police chief just got a new radar gun.
1831—2003(Hide quotations)
police college n.
1919 Stevens Point
(Wisconsin)
Daily Jrnl. 22 Sept. 7/3
The aldermen of the Chicago city council police committee, who have been cherishing a dream of establishing a police college in Chicago.
2000 A. Sayle Barcelona Plates 60
Some Merseyside copper who'd been on an advanced paranoia course at Hendon Police College.
1919—2000(Hide quotations)
police colonel n.
1828 Times 29 Aug. 4/1
Gradations of rank and salaries in military order, either as police-colonels, captains, serjeants, &c.: or with mere civic appellations.
1907 Atlanta
(Georgia)
Constitution 19 Dec.
Police Colonel Kalchak was killed and several of his subordinate officers and men wounded today.
1997 Mail on Sunday 10 Aug. (Night & Day section) 14/2
Provenzano began his criminal career as a lieutenant of the notorious Licio Liggio, in which capacity he killed a police colonel in 1969.
1828—1997(Hide quotations)
police commissioner n.
1819 Times 11 Oct. 2/1
M. Bruzelin, Police Commissioner, has signed this proces verbal.
1911 Daily Colonist
(Victoria, Brit. Columbia)
11 Apr. 7/1
A meeting of the police commissioners will be held this afternoon..when the department's estimates for the year will be considered.
2003 Village Voice
(N.Y.)
20 Aug. 31/2
Police commissioner..Safir announced a controversial plan to switch the entire NYPD force from full-metal-jacket bullets to hollow-point bullets.
1819—2003(Hide quotations)
police constable n.
1787 A. Griffith Observ. Bishop of Cloyne's Pamphlet i. 22
Little more than the pay of one of our Police Constables.
1800 P. Colquhoun Treat. Commerce & Police R. Thames 206
A ‘Caution against Pillage and Plunder’ which the Police Constables were instructed to read aloud as soon as the Lumpers and Coopers were assembled.
1855 London as it is To-day 366
During two months out of every three, each police constable is on night duty.
1995 Independent 6 Apr. 16/2
Nethers will consist of the rest of us, from police constables to clerical assistants.
1787—1995(Hide quotations)
police cordon n.
1850 Examiner 21 Sept. 605/1
A doctrine which naturally led to..the establishment of military and police cordons.
1942 H. K. Smith Last Train from Berlin iii. 69
Children broke through the police cordon.
1990 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army
(1991)
xvii. 251
An infantry or police cordon will have evacuated nearby buildings and blocked off roads, probably causing traffic jams.
1850—1990(Hide quotations)
police courtroom n.
1864 Adams Sentinel
(Gettysburg, Pa.)
23 Feb. 1/5
There was a hush in the police courtroom as a red-nosed judge took his seat upon the bench.
1912 Washington Post 13 May 5/4
The semiannual inspection of the police force..will be made in the police courtroom Wednesday afternoon.
2003 Contra Costa
(Calif.)
Times
(Nexis)
23 Sept. f4
The basement is devoted to the city prison and police department, with police courtroom, judge's chamber and jury room.
1864—2003(Hide quotations)
police department n.
1787 Parl. Reg. Ireland VII. 403
He entertained much respect for the worthy and honourable alderman at the head of the police department.
1844 Southern Lit. Messenger Dec. 729/2
Some valuable statistical returns..a copy of which was kindly given to us by Mr. Gilio of the police department.
1997 Calif. Lawyer July 19/2
Tipton-Whittingham v. City of Los Angeles..seeks to keep the court from ordering the Los Angeles Police Department to implement a stricter affirmative action program.
1787—1997(Hide quotations)
police district n.
1821 Edinb. Advertiser 14 Dec. 381/4
A proclamation, ordering all the Public Houses within the Police District of Dublin Metropolis to be closed from the hour of eight o'clock.
1906 Harmsworth Encycl. 4814/3
At the present time the Metropolitan Police district is nearly 700 square miles in extent.
1991 San Francisco Chron. 26 July a23/1
Community leaders..blasted the reshaping of the city's nine police districts... The plan is designed to balance the police workload among the districts.
1821—1991(Hide quotations)
police doctor n.
1859 Times 11 Oct. 10/4
She expected the police doctor to visit her.
1934 M. Allingham Death of Ghost vii. 86
The altruistic murderer is rare, and of course I couldn't say what the chances of your being one were until we have the evidence of the police doctor.
2004 Morning Star
(Nexis)
31 July 13
The police doctor failed to make a proper examination.
1859—2004(Hide quotations)
police duty n.
1814 Scott Waverley I. xvi. 167
(note)
The Town-guard of Edinburgh were, till a late period, armed with this weapon when on their police-duty.
1900 Times 8 May 11/1
A detachment of 35 Chinese soldiers shot a Russian captain in command of ten Cossacks doing police duty.
1990 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army
(1991)
xxvi. 425
After two tours of general police duties..he can..apply for para provost with 5th Airborne Brigade.
1814—1990(Hide quotations)
police establishment n.
1788 Parl. Reg. Ireland VIII. 357
The same confidence cost 20,000l. per annum for a police establishment.
1870 Times 18 Mar. 8/6
The police establishment was too military in its character.
1988 PC Week
(Nexis)
31 May 49
California's police establishment..has bought most of the 14 systems installed so far.
1788—1988(Hide quotations)
police force n.
1820 Times 14 Nov. 3
His house was..surrounded by a police force.
1822 Edinb. Advertiser 15 Mar. 172/1
In other instances he had overstated the number of the Police force.
1883 A. K. Green Hand & Ring iii,
He is a member of the police force.
1968 Listener 21 Nov. 667/1
As I saw it, the UN must move quickly to set up some kind of international police force.
1995 Daily Tel. 15 June 4/6
Police in 16 English and Welsh police forces are shortly to test hand-held CS gas sprays.
1820—1995(Hide quotations)
police gazette n.
1797 Parl. Reg. 1797–1800 III. 362
To T. Wright, printer of The Hue and Cry and Police Gazette, for advertising deserters between the 10th April and 5th July 1795.
1863 S. C. Massett Drifting About 245
The was a woodcut of me on the bills, that resembled more the head of a murderer..as appears in the Police Gazette, than anything else.
2003 Progress Leader
(Australia)
(Nexis)
11 Feb. 23
History books, hoary police gazettes and official records.
1797—2003(Hide quotations)
police headquarters n.
1854 Democrat
(Placerville, Calif.)
24 June . 4/4
A suitable place for the safe-keeping of prisoners and a room for police headquarters until a station house is provided.
1951 W. H. Auden Nones
(1952)
37
Between the burnt-out Law Courts and Police Headquarters.
1994 N.Y. Mag. 22 Aug. 17/2
The processing station for Manhattan defendants in the basement of police headquarters.
1854—1994(Hide quotations)
police horse n.
1848 Times 20 Nov. 5/6
Our guard, now strengthened by some police horse and a couple of guns under Lieutenant Pollock.
1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned iv. 453
She was knocked down..almost under the nose of a police horse.
1992 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 7 June 9/3
Union pickets fighting back against police horses riding down on them.
1848—1992(Hide quotations)
police house n.
1788 Parl. Reg. Ireland VIII. 337
By one year's rent of police house, ending 29th September.
1893 Manufacturer & Builder Oct. 228/2
The following buildings have been erected in Jackson Park and Midway Plaisance... Woman's Building, Fire and Police Houses, Fisheries Building, [etc.].
1993 G. Donaldson Ville 306
He has been transferred yet again, this time to South Main, which..is another snitch house, a police house.
1788—1993(Hide quotations)
police inspector n. [compare French inspecteur de police (1798)]
1824 Times 7 July 3/5
Herring, one of the new police-inspectors..stated that in the houses of all the defendants they found men drinking during divine service, without the least restraint.
1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn xiv. 179
Four of the houses are private—one of them belonging to a police inspector.
2000 Sunday Times
(Johannesburg)
2 Apr. 8/7
(heading)
Police inspector Eugene Sitzer has thrown down the gauntlet to parents of truant schoolchildren.
1824—2000(Hide quotations)
police jeep n.
1947 Indiana
(Pa.)
Evening Gaz. 28 Oct. 1/2
A police jeep followed the private car in which Lo reached the American Embassy.
1995 Jewish Homemaker Apr. 21/1
Her car was flanked by police jeeps and she was yanked out.
1947—1995(Hide quotations)
police laboratory n.
1921 Indianapolis
(Indiana)
Star 21 Aug. 34/6
Dr. Edmund Locard, head of the Lyons police laboratory of identification, has elaborated these new methods of crime detection.
2003 Herald Sun
(Melbourne)
(Nexis)
18 Dec. 23
Documents provided by the police laboratory.
1921—2003(Hide quotations)
police launch n.
1878 Times 13 Sept. 8/4,
I cannot speak too highly of..Superintendent Austin, of the Thames police launch.
1935 W. Faulkner Pylon 236
Beyond the outer markers of the seaplane basin a police launch was scattering the fleet of small boats.
2000 New Eng. Q. 73 486
When the police launch approached the area, it was met with jeers, hisses, and pounding on the canoes.
1878—2000(Hide quotations)
police lieutenant n.
1859 Banner Liberty
(Middletown, N.Y.)
10 Aug. 250/1
Wincing under the menace of a few fanatics he issued his pronunciamento to the police lieutenant of the Fifteenth ward.
1931 U. Sinclair Wet Parade xvii. 388
‘Here, what's this?’ shouted the police lieutenant in charge.
2002 G. M. Eberhart Mysterious Creatures II. 395/2
When police lieutenant Alex Godart was camped along the Aruwimi River in 1912, he felt what seemed to be a violent earthquake.
1859—2002(Hide quotations)
police medal n.
1887 Times 13 July 8/3
The cost of the police medals will be provided out of the Metropolitan Police Fund.
1955 M. Allingham Beckoning Lady ii. 72
Divisional Detective Chief Inspector Charles Luke..had emerged from hospital with..a recommendation for the coveted Police Medal.
1999 Folkestone Herald 7 Jan. 6/5
He has been told he is to receive a Queen's Police Medal at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace.
1887—1999(Hide quotations)
police patrol n.
1823 Times 29 Aug. 2/4
The arrest of Mr. Gleeson was occasioned..by his refusing to answer the challenge of the police patrol.
1936 ‘N. Blake’ Thou Shell of Death xiv. 258
On the main road he'd have to go straight for a bit, and the police patrols would be out.
2002 Police Rev. 2 Aug. 30/3
Police patrols are concentrated in the town-centre.
1823—2002(Hide quotations)
police photograph n.
1889 Cent. Mag. Sept. 741/1
Hypolyte Muishkin, whose portrait was engraved from a police photograph taken while he was in the fortress of Petropavlovsk.
1943 G. Greene Ministry of Fear iii. i. 163
A police photograph is like a passport photograph... We protest: This isn't me.
1993 N.Y. Times 17 Jan. i3/4
The police photograph that showed a jowly face, close-cropped hair and hard brown eyes.
1889—1993(Hide quotations)
police photographer n.
1889 Hornellsville
(N.Y.)
Weekly Tribune 22 Feb. 2/1
(heading)
Rogues at the gallery. Scenes in the police photographer's studio.
1931 M. Allingham Police at Funeral xv. 206
Mr. Bowditch and a police photographer had completed their work on the footprint.
1996 B. Helgeland & C. Hanson L.A. Confid. (film transcript) (Goldenrod rev. pages) 1
(stage direct.)
Police photographers document crime scenes.
1889—1996(Hide quotations)
police post n.
1851 Times 16 May 2/3
The Government found itself compelled to double the army in Ireland, to double the police posts, to make every village a garrison.
1925 E. A. Powell Map that is Half Unrolled x. 199
The proper course is to go to the nearest police post and lodge a complaint against the man for being insolent.
1991 Courier-Mail
(Brisbane)
23 Feb. 2/2
The Gold Coast City Council will build a police post in the Cavill Mall despite the police department's refusal to use it.
1851—1991(Hide quotations)
police procedure n.
1869 Appleton's Jrnl. 26 June 388/1
Arrest without accusation..was a police procedure frequently employed at that time in Great Britain.
1926 Times 15 Jan. 14/3
The Home Secretary..promised a number of reforms in police procedure.
1999 E. Afr. Standard
(Nairobi)
28 July 16/3
The closure of all torture chambers and the discarding of torture as police procedure.
1869—1999(Hide quotations)
police protection n.
1835 Times 15 Dec. 3/5
Whenever application is made for police protection for persons employed in the service of law processes from any of the superior courts, reference must be first had to Dublin.
1908 London Mag. Oct. 240,
I would demand police protection.
2004 N.Y. Post
(Nexis)
1 Oct. 14
The children of the assistant district attorney..have been placed under police protection after the murder suspect allegedly threatened them.
1835—2004(Hide quotations)
police radio n.
1931 Marion
(Ohio)
Star 13 Oct. 8/5
Sparton police radios are giving excellent accounts of themselves in all parts of the country.
1999 N.Y. Times 7 Jan. a29/1
The police radio crackled out a report that a man riding a bicycle had been struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver.
1931—1999(Hide quotations)
police raid n.
1867 Catholic World Aug. 694/1
Many a police-raid was effected on the inhabitants of the Cour des Miracles, of the Rue Temps-Perdu.
1919 G. B. Shaw Heartbreak House p. xx,
The ordinary law was superseded by Acts under which newspapers were seized and their printing machinery destroyed by simple police raids à la Russe.
2003 Mojo May 58/2
In April, a ‘routine’ police raid found cannabis in his compound at a time when being caught with a joint meant 10 years in the slammer.
1867—2003(Hide quotations)
police regulation n.
1791 tr. J. J. Rousseau Inq. Nature Social Contract iv. iv. 322
The second was a police regulation: for the holding of the comitia was forbidden in those days.
1853 E. Twisleton Let. 23 May
(1928)
v. 85
Owing to the recent revolts, all the police-regulations were doubled in stringency.
2001 J. C. Grimwood Pashazade
(2003)
i. 3
Police regulations demanded he wear a face mask, surgical gloves and..a sweatband to stop himself from accidentally polluting biological evidence.
1791—2001(Hide quotations)
police report n.
1815 Times 18 Oct. 3/3
See the Shadwell Police Report.
1915 F. M. Hueffer Good Soldier i. iii. 31,
I used..to inspect the little police reports that each guest was expected to sign upon taking a room.
2003 N.Y. Times Mag. 5 Oct. 80/2
A police administrator was stationed at the registrar's desk, filling out police reports while the registrar did intakes.
1815—2003(Hide quotations)
police sergeant n.
1824 Times 7 Aug. 3/3
It was clearly proved by the police-sergeant (Blakeny) that a riot and subsequent rescue had taken place.
1906 W. McAdoo Guarding Great City v. 67
A rude, unmannerly person sitting as police sergeant..has no place on the New York police force.
1992 Oldie 21 Feb. 12/2
A woman police sergeant from the Metropolitan Police Obscene Publications Squad..is collating information from police investigations into satanic abuse cases round the country.
1824—1992(Hide quotations)
police ship n.
[1820 Times 22 Nov. 2/7
The barges left Cotton-garden separately; and, by sweeping round the Thames-Police ship, obtained the middle of the river as quickly as possible.]
1826 W. Hone Every-day Bk.
(1827)
II. 329
He went on board the police-ship stationed on the Thames.
1963 Times 23 Mar. 8/3
Yesterday two Hercules aircraft and a police ship left Surabaja, East Java, for Bali carrying food, clothes, and medicine.
2002 Lexington
(Kentucky)
Herald Leader
(Nexis)
2 Oct. b3
Coast Guard gunboats and New York police ships kept watch outside.
1826—2002(Hide quotations)
police spy n.
?1791 tr. A.-G. La Fitte Mem. & Gallantries Prince 47
Must we for lovers ply th' insulting street, And pant for fear of every police spy?
1884 D. Boucicault Shaughraun i. iv. 23
The police spy—Harvey Duff—the man that denounced me.
2001 C. Kelly Russ. Lit. v. 80
The arch-conservative, police spy, editor of The Northern Bee, and popular novelist Faddey Bulgarin.
?1791—2001(Hide quotations)
police spying n.
1851 Harper's Mag. Nov. 844/1
Nothing but soldiering or police spying seems left to the majority of the educated classes.
1935 Times 28 May 9/4
He had a feeling of the utmost repugnance against the whole system of police spying.
2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
(Nexis)
19 Sept. b6
The administration was drafting a Patriot Act II that would allow secret arrests, police spying, unchecked power to deport foreign nationals.
1851—2003(Hide quotations)
police surgeon n.
1823 Edinb. Advertiser 18 Mar. 179/4
After him came Mr Black the police-surgeon.
1928 D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club xxi. 274
‘Nervous shock with well-marked delusions’, said the police surgeon.
1996 Motoring & Leisure (CSMA) Feb. 55/1
We are having talks on 25 years as a police surgeon on 19 February.
1823—1996(Hide quotations)
police system n.
1796 P. Colquhoun Treat. Police Metropolis xiii. 399
A moderate licence duty, which would raise a sum of money equal to all the expences of the Police System.
1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 336/2
The police system of necessity involves the existence in a district of police stations or lock-ups, for the temporary detention of prisoners.
1999 ‘Eurydice’ Satyricon USA 232
In cybertopia he..works as an indomitable detective in a virtual town that has its own laws and police system.
1796—1999(Hide quotations)
police tax n.
1788 Parl. Reg. Ireland VIII. 335
He mentioned the grievous burden of paying near 10,000l. police tax.
1884 Christian World 20 Mar. 206/1
He has advised the farmers..to refuse to pay the police-tax.
2003 Charlotte
(N. Carolina)
Observer
(Nexis)
27 Nov. 6 m,
Residents of Davidson's unincorporated area would still pay a police tax to Mecklenburg County.
1788—2003(Hide quotations)
police van n.
1830 Times 16 Oct. 3/5
At one time he made his escape from the police van on its way from Union-hall to Kingston, in Surrey.
1927 H. H. Lou Juvenile Courts in U.S. 223
Transportation in a police van, escort by a police officer in uniform, and any visible physical restraint are objectionable and should be avoided.
2002 D. Aitkenhead Promised Land xvi. 165
Minutes later, a police van pulled up and armed guards led out a dozen prisoners, shackled together with ankle-chains.
1830—2002(Hide quotations)
police wagon n.
1880 Manitoba Daily Free Press 5 Mar. 4/1
The defendant..pulled down the tents, and placing these..in police wagons, drove away.
1925 J. Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer iii. iv. 370
At that moment a police-wagon drove up jingling.
1997 D. Simon & E. Burns Corner 54
She hates listening to the gunshots.., wondering if..the police wagon racing around the corner has been called for her son.
1880—1997(Hide quotations)
police-woman n.
1853 W. J. Hickie tr. Aristophanes Lysistrata in Comedies II. 398
You say well. Where is the policewoman?
1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. vi. 560
A policewoman handed that nomadic laundress over to the stronger arm of the law.
2003 Heat 29 Mar. 3/2
We can guarantee that the next day, offices throughout the land will resound with conversations about Lisa, Phil and honey-trapping policewoman Kate.
1853—2003(Hide quotations)
police work n.
1816 Times 9 Sept. 3/5
He was better paid for detecting forgeries than for any other kind of police work.
1937 ‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! ii. ii. 112
In plain police-work you could usually go straight for the truth.
2002 Independent 11 June 5/2
Police work is not about huffing and puffing. The idea that officers are off running and jumping and fighting criminals all the time is not a reality.
1816—2002(Hide quotations)
C2.
police-controlled adj.
1891 Times 22 June 5/3
A principle, strange to say, hitherto neglected in this otherwise most State-ridden and police-controlled country.
1939 H. Hodge Cab, Sir? 236
A police-controlled cross-roads.
2003 Western Daily Press
(Nexis)
24 Dec. 21
The attendants have taken over from police-controlled traffic wardens to deal with on-street parking.
1891—2003(Hide quotations)
police-guarded adj.
1853 Times 27 Apr. 5/5
He left the police-guarded district at the village of Norton.
1929 R. Kipling Poems 1886–1929 III. 310
The police-guarded fair-grounds.
2003 Palm Beach
(Florida)
Post
(Nexis)
26 Oct. 1 a,
Watching a hastily formed motorcade of ambulances and patrol cars haul Schiavo back to the police-guarded hospice.
1853—2003(Hide quotations)
police-harassed adj.
a1907 Daily Tel. 22 May 7/1
Men who spend most of their lives in gaol with brief intervals of police-harassed liberty.
a1907—a1907(Hide quotations)
police-protected adj.
1844 Living Age 15 June 276/1
Louis Philippe oscillates in the same style between the picnics of the Isle of Wight and the police-protected peace of Neuilly.
1901 Sketch 17 July 518/2
Herr Kubelik..will have to be police-protected against the patrons of Señor Sarasate.
1992 Callaloo 15 505
The shapes and colors of the houses are a lagoon on which shacks float along side police-protected brick houses.
1844—1992(Hide quotations)
police-ridden adj.
1841 Times 27 Sept. 7/3
Mr. Hobler assured Sir P. Laurie that the public were becoming regularly police-ridden.
1907 G. B. Shaw Let. 13 Nov.
(1972)
721
Herbert Gladstone..has shown himself..half sentimental, half police-ridden in criminal matters.
2001 Ottawa Citizen
(Nexis)
15 July a12
Her parents..have hired Billy Martin..to help them navigate the press and police-ridden weeks ahead.
1841—2001(Hide quotations)
C3.
police action n. (a) the activity or behaviour of the police; (b) military intervention without a formal declaration of war, when a nation or group within a nation is considered to be violating international law and peace; an instance of this.
1855 Times 19 Apr. 8/5
In order to economize police action in the highest possible degree.
1933 Week-end Rev. 1 July 17/1
Blurring the distinction between war the duel and ‘police action’.
1986 Stone's Justices' Man.
(ed. 118)
III. v. 6211
It is also particularly important to ensure that any person searched is treated courteously and considerately if police action is not to be resented.
2004 Washington Post
(Nexis)
22 Aug. t2
In the 1950s, President Truman got us into a ‘police action’ in Korea, which many believe was a war.
1855—2004(Hide quotations)
police aided adj. that is aided or assisted by the police, freq. designating charitable organizations supplying clothing and footwear to poor children.
1895 Times 26 June 7/3
Mr. W. J. Clark, honorary secretary of the Birmingham Police Aided Association for clothing destitute children, was called.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xvii. [Ithaca] 638
Embroidery, darning or knitting for the policeaided clothing society.
2002 Evening News
(Edinb.)
(Nexis)
19 Dec. 24
£3500, shared equally between the Police Aided Clothing Scheme and the St Catherine's convent at Lauriston.
1895—2002(Hide quotations)
police bail n. the release of a person from police custody subject to certain conditions, including a requirement that he or she returns at an appointed time; the conditions stipulated or a sum of money paid as a surety in the case of such a release.
1924 Syracuse
(N.Y.)
Herald 7 Oct. 6/4
The motorist had been detained earlier without police bail.
1956 Chron. Express
(Penn Yan, N.Y.)
5 July 8 a/3
Mr. Coleman posted $25 police bail to insure his appearance in police court Saturday morning.
1998 Daily Tel. 2 Jan. 7/1
A formal caution could not be administered until the youth answered to police bail, on which he was released following his arrest on suspicion of supplying cannabis.
1924—1998(Hide quotations)
police barrier n. a temporary fence or railing erected by the police to restrict public access to a particular area, esp. when large crowds are expected.
1872 Times 21 Feb. 5/2
The masts..might be erected at the same time as the police barriers [for the Queen's visit].
1937 H. Jennings et al. May 12th Mass-observ. Day-surv. ii. ii. 104
The police barrier at the bottom of the Strand... ‘Ticket holders only.’
2004 Los Angeles Times
(Nexis)
30 Apr. a4
Police barriers kept the protesters away from a hotel where hundreds of business and political leaders attended the second day of a conference.
1872—2004(Hide quotations)
police blotter n. orig. and chiefly U.S. a record of arrests and charges at a police station; a newspaper article based on this record; cf. blotter n. 4.
1861 Banner Liberty
(Middletown, N.Y.)
27 Feb. 64/3
His name, arrest and the name of the officer arresting him, are on the police blotter, and there they remain.
1926 J. Black You can't Win xix. 299,
I never put his name, which is my name, on a police blotter or a prison register while he was alive.
1986 K. Friedman Greenwich Killing Time
(1987)
xxv. 110,
I was hoping it wouldn't be through the obits or the police blotter.
1995 Daily News
(Virgin Islands)
6 Feb. 13/1
Though police were zip-lipped about the raids, the police blotter showed two arrests on drug charges that morning.
1861—1995(Hide quotations)
police board n. (originally) a committee having responsibility for public amenities, the maintenance of law and order, etc.; (later) a local government board or committee set up to oversee the activities of a local police force.
1786 Parl. Reg. Ireland VI. 384
The right honourable gentleman has now stated what will be the probable expence of this very good institution, a police board.
1856 X. D. MacLeod Biogr. Fernando Wood xiii. 208
The whole Police Board was elected at the late election.
1995 Hanover
(Ont.)
Post 18 July a3/2
Coun. Rob MacInnis serves on the Police Board and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
1786—1995(Hide quotations)
police box n. (a) a small office or booth staffed by one or more police officers (now chiefly in Japan); (b) a telephone (or earlier, telegraph) kiosk specially for the use of police or members of the public wishing to contact the police; (c) a reinforced shelter on London streets during the Second World War (1939–45) for the protection of policemen on duty during an air raid (now disused).
1855 Times 1 May 11/6
When I returned I found the prisoner in my police-box.
1890 Trenton
(New Jersey)
Times 22 Feb. 3/3
The telegraphic police box system now in use is one of the finest things ever invented.
1941 Newsweek 13 Oct. 29
One of many air-raid precautions taken in the British capital for the expected winter Luftwaffe attacks is the building of ‘police boxes’ at street intersections. The reinforced brick shelters will protect London Bobbies on duty during Nazi air raids.
1971 ‘R. Amberley’ Ordinary Accident xiii. 116
Someone, evidently ringing from the police box on the Banbury road.
2003 Manch. Guardian Weekly
(Nexis)
19 Mar. 11
Every small district [of Tokyo] has a koban, or police box, staffed by officers.
1855—2003(Hide quotations)
police boy n. now hist. and offensive a native-born male employed by the police force of a colonial or white-dominated administration as an assistant, security officer, or (esp. Austral.) tracker.
1914 G. A. Tandy in C. Ambler & J. Crush Liquor & Labor in S. Afr.
(1992)
vi. 172
In many cases police boys are in collusion with the brewers.
1938 X. Herbert Capricornia 372
A sneakin' coot of a police-boy stationed at the Compound got to hear of it and told the jonnops.
1994 C. Summers Civilization to Segregation vi. 136
Some workers—such as government messengers, clerks, ‘police boys’, or relatively skilled workers—were not temporary migrants.
1914—1994(Hide quotations)
police burgh n. now hist. a Scottish burgh in which elected magistrates and Commissioners of Police had powers and responsibilities corresponding to those of a local council.
1877 Times 6 Apr. 7/1
By Sir. A. Gordon..praying that police burghs may be brought within the action of Clauses 10 and 41 of the Roads and Bridges Bill.
1963 North-east of Scotl. 204
An Act of that year [sc. 1850] enabled the inhabitants of a populous place to form the community into a burgh in which magistrates and police commissioners could then be elected to undertake the administration of the police and other functions previously made available to the councils of the existing burghs. The community was then termed a Police Burgh.
2003 Herald
(Glasgow)
(Nexis)
18 June 18
He also produced two non-heraldic books on Scotland's police burghs.
1877—2003(Hide quotations)
police captain n. a subordinate officer in a police force.
1832 Times 18 Sept. 3/4
A police captain also attended, who was served the moment he appeared, with a summons.
1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 674/1
The next grade above is that of sergeant. Above this comes the police captain.
1999 Star-Ledger
(Newark, New Jersey)
24 Sept. 21/2
‘It gives them a heads-up as to what's going on’, the police captain said.
1832—1999(Hide quotations)
police car n. a car (formerly also a carriage) used by the police.
1881 Times 3 June 6/5
One horse shot under police car; no policeman hit.
1924 A. Christie Poirot Investigates viii. 221
A large police car was waiting for us, with some plain~clothes men.
2003 Daily Tel. 30 Oct. 20/1
Police cars circled the streets with officers shouting through bullhorns that everyone had to ‘leave now’.
1881—2003(Hide quotations)
police control n. (a) regulation or direction by the police; (b) a police checkpoint; a location at which police monitor traffic, check documentation, etc.
1829 Times 8 Jan. 3/1
The objections against any system uniting parochial with police control are the disputes and jealousies which would be found to attend the division of power.
1928 G. B. Shaw Platform & Pulpit
(1962)
187,
I was informed that I had passed through a police control at a speed of twenty seven miles an hour.
2003 Independent 3 Feb. 15/5
The Highways Agency must consider installing extra egress points..to enable emergency clearance under police control.
1829—2003(Hide quotations)
police cruiser n. N. Amer. a police patrol car; (also, in early use) a police boat.
1858 N.Y. Times 27 Dec. 4/2
Should the..pirates escape the dangers of the seas and the chance of police cruisers, there is good reason to hope that a speedy and satisfactory account of..them will be given in the Nicaraguan waters.
1921 N.Y. Times 7 Oct. 20/2
As the police cruiser followed them one of the police-men fired at the fugitive with a high-powered rifle, with which each of the new police cars is equipped.
1930 Coshocton
(Ohio)
Tribune 7 Dec. 1/5
A police cruiser, one of the four which had been called to aid in surrounding the hangout, pursued the fleeing youth.
1994 A. Rogers Pandora ii. 92
The lot is solid with police cruisers, humvees, military transport trucks.
1858—1994(Hide quotations)
police culture n. freq. depreciative the attitudes and behaviour prevalent among the police force, often considered to be characterized by solidarity and resistance to change, and sometimes alleged to be discriminatory and intolerant; cf. canteen culture n. at canteen n. Additions.
[1963 Public Policy 12 192
To the extent that the policeman feels the need to develop a police ‘sub-culture’ or ‘code’ different from that of civilians he can be said to be alienated.]
1966 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 72 73/1
Police culture emphasizes distance between the occupation and the general community.
2004 Toronto Star
(Nexis)
23 Apr. b1
Police culture must be modified so that those who are prepared to come forward and provide information about misconduct are recognized as being honourable officers.
1966—2004(Hide quotations)
police dispatcher n. U.S. a member of the staff of a police station who receives information about crimes and transmits it to police patrols.
1935 Edwardsville
(Illinois)
Intelligencer 8 June 5/5
The police dispatcher today broadcast a pickup order for a chocolate colored sedan.
1986 N.Y. Post 9 July 64
A Mahwah police dispatcher said extra patrols have been scheduled around the couple's modern townhome in Mahwah.
1935—1986(Hide quotations)
police dog n. (a) a dog, esp. an Alsatian, used by the police to track and capture criminals, find lost persons, etc.; (b) an Alsatian.
1836 C. M. Sedgwick Poor Rich Man & Rich Poor Man xiv. 131
Save yourself—the police dogs are on the scent—look to the black trunk.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby ii. 32
I'd like to get one of those police dogs; I don't suppose you got that kind?
2002 Guardian 12 July i. 4/1
Ordinarily, police dogs are taught to chase offenders and to bark at them once they have been caught and stopped.
1836—2002(Hide quotations)
police grip n. a grip or hold used by police officers to control or subdue a prisoner.
1892 Harper's Mag. Aug. 452/1
Giving you this police grip seems brutal, I know.
1910 H. G. Wells Hist. Mr. Polly vii. 238
A combination of something romantic called ‘Ju-jitsu’ and..the ‘Police Grip’.
2002 New Yorker
(Nexis)
20 May 48
He will come up to me and put me in all these police grips... If I put up any sort of fight, I'm on the ground, quick.
1892—2002(Hide quotations)
police harassment n. persistent questioning or intimidation of a person by the police, esp. with little justification.
1930 Appleton
(Wisconsin)
Post-Crescent 18 Nov. 2/7
Sammons..had been prevented by police harassment from earning an honest living.
1970 D. Goldrich et al. in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. v. 180
El Espíritu was invaded in 1962, an act met by the government with both police harassment and army attack on the squatters' huts.
2002 Voice 4 Nov. 26/2
The continual police harassment of black youth under the old Vagrancy Act of 1824, better known as the ‘sus’ laws.
1930—2002(Hide quotations)
police informer n. a person who gives information to the police about crimes and their perpetrators, esp. one who does this on a regular basis.
1851 Times 2 Jan. 6/2
No small satisfaction is felt by the mass of the working classes at the punishment of a police informer such as Allais.
1930 Forum Dec. 375/1
A police informer in New York, for instance, is a stool or snitch.
2000 Guardian 5 Aug. i. 2/3
Fleckney, a powerful drug baroness, described how she became a police informer in the early 1990s.
1851—2000(Hide quotations)
police judge n. chiefly Sc. and U.S. a stipendiary police magistrate.
1818 Times 6 Mar. 3/6
The noble lord has had a hearing before one of the police judges.
1862 Act 25 & 26 Vict. c. 35 §25
If adjudged by any magistrate or police judge of any royal or parliamentary burgh.
1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues ii. 33
It was Magistrate Jean Hortense Norris, the first woman police judge in New York, a tough hard-faced old dame.
2002 Independent 31 Jan. (Thursday Review section) 1/1
Georgetown's ‘police-judge’..was reported to have bared her breasts at the bar in Dexter's Tavern.
1818—2002(Hide quotations)
police jury n. (freq. with capital initials) U.S. (in Louisiana) the governing body of a parish, having responsibility for aspects of public amenities and administration.
1836 Sat. Evening Post 27 Aug. 2/6
By the report of the police jury, the whole number of deaths from assassination and unknown causes in that city for the past year, has been one hundred and thirty-three!
1961 New Eng. Q. 34 83
Giffen filed a petition for permission to emancipate four slaves..with the St. Martin's Parish Police Jury.
2002 Indian Country Today 14 Aug. c2/2
Without the Police Jury's support, the tribe would likely have given up on the idea, Jena Choctaw Chief Cheryl Smith said.
1836—2002(Hide quotations)
police lock n. U.S. a device fitted in addition to a standard lock on a door or window to prevent it from being opened or to allow it to open only a certain distance.
1910 N.Y. Times 20 Nov. ii. 12/7
Very quietly he put a police lock on the door and then telephoned to the East 104th Street Station House for help.
1974 J. Willwerth Jones: Portrait of Mugger iii. 48,
I was really fucked up over this apartment, but that's the way it goes, I guess. I've got a police lock now.
1991 R. Gelbspan Break-ins, Death Threats & FBI ii. 30
To enter the church and reach its inner offices, thieves opened two sophisticated police locks.
1910—1991(Hide quotations)
police magistrate n. a stipendiary magistrate who presides in a police court.
1791 C. T. Bowden Tour through Ireland 15
He applied to the police magistrates for justice.
1838 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 250/1
When a complaint is made to a police magistrate he issues his warrant as he sees occasion, to a constable..or to one of the metropolitan force.
2000 Birmingham Post
(Nexis)
16 June 4
Hanson has been released on bail to appear before a police magistrate on June 23.
1791—2000(Hide quotations)
† police manure n. Sc. Obs. manure collected in the streets of a town or city; street-sweepings; cf. sense 3a.
1825 Edinb. Advertiser 16 Dec. 798/4
The Inspector of Police apprehended James Dickson..and sent him prisoner to the Police Office, for having..deposited police manure in a park.
1883 Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. 15 38
The whole was manured with police manure—about 30 tons per acre.
1825—1883(Hide quotations)
police-master n. a superintendent or chief of police, esp. in Russia.
1798 tr. J.-H. Castéra Hist. Reigns Peter III & Catharine II II. x. 356
When the chastisement was inflicted, the Police-Master entered the room again.
1863 L. Atkinson Recoll. Tartar Steppes 224
We drove to the house of the police-master, who courteously invited us to be his guests.
1994 Bull. School Oriental & Afr. Stud. 57 288
In consequence of this he was brought the same evening by the police-master to the mission-house.
1798—1994(Hide quotations)
† police mastership n. Obs. rare the office or position of a police-master.
1883 Reade in Harper's Mag. Jan. 258/1
Vladimir got the promise of a police mastership.
1883—1883(Hide quotations)
police matron n. a policewoman who takes charge of women or juveniles at a police station or in court.
1887 Overland Monthly Feb. 224/1
The city jail in San Francisco, where as yet a police matron is unknown.
1942 A. Christie Body in Libr. xiv. 133
In the corner of Superintendent Harper's office sat an elderly lady... She was certainly no police matron.
2003 Buffalo News
(N.Y.)
(Nexis)
30 Dec. e3
Mary Louise Rohrdanz was recognized..for her role as police matron.
1887—2003(Hide quotations)
police message n. a message sent by the police; spec. a message or announcement specially broadcast or published at the request of police authorities.
1886 Times 2 Apr. 6/2
Instructions have also been issued authorizing the acceptance of the police message without prepayment.
1933 Times 27 July 10/3,
7.40:—Police Messages. 7.45:—Concert. 8.55:—News.
2000 Mail on Sunday
(Nexis)
30 Apr. 78
Working as a Press photographer, he acquired a short-wave radio so he could be at the scene of any major crime within minutes, alerted by police messages.
1886—2000(Hide quotations)
† police-monger n. Obs. nonce-wd. a person who is preoccupied with the policing of a community.
1808 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. 26 111
For the sake of pretending to be useful, these new police-mongers will pry into every peculiarity, and meddle with every amusement of the people.
1808—1808(Hide quotations)
police novel n. a crime novel, esp. one characterized by detailed attention to police procedures.
1889 Times 24 Sept. 5/6
They are police novels pure and simple.
1908 G. K. Chesterton All Things Considered 116
The police novel..permits privacy only to explode and smash privacy.
2004 Spectator
(Nexis)
9 Oct. 47
Fans of hard-boiled police novels will have to travel far to find anything better.
1889—2004(Hide quotations)
police officer n. †(a) an official with responsibility for the maintenance of public order (obs.); (b) a member of a police force; a constable.
1784 G. Borthwick Method preventing Infectious Dis. 13
Such publick Necessary-houses, ought to be carefully attended to, by the police officers.
1794 P. Colquhoun Observ. & Facts Relative to Licensed Ale-houses 18
His [sc. an immoral publican's] house, in spite of all the vigilance of the parish or police officers, becomes a complete school of vice and wickedness.
1806 A. Duncan Nelson's Funeral 26
Special, petty, and other constables, and all the police officers of every description..were on duty.
1920 Times 14 Jan. 4/1
A police officer said that the official documents stated that he had never served overseas.
2003 Independent on Sunday 13 July 8/6
Police ‘clinics’ staffed by specially trained police officers are to target children who are at risk of offending.
1784—2003(Hide quotations)
police orphanage n. a home for the orphans of police officers.
1872 Times 30 Jan. 11/6
His father left strict injunctions that he was to be sent to the Metropolitan and City Police Orphanage.
1938 M. Allingham Fashion in Shrouds xx. 360
[He] made the suggestion as if he were announcing a rich gift to the Police Orphanage.
1990 Independent
(Nexis)
27 Aug. 11
This son of a London policeman soon found himself resident at the Metropolitan Police orphanage because of the family's inability to cope financially.
1872—1990(Hide quotations)
Police Positive n. a type of Colt revolver.
1905 Atlanta Constit. 1 Nov. 12/5
(advt.)
A New Colt Revolver ‘police positive’.
1975 J. Gores Hammett
(1976)
xxxii. 221
He took out the long-barreled police positive... He thumbed back the hammer.
2000 Washington Post
(Nexis)
15 Mar. b5
He carried a .38-caliber Police Positive, kept a .44-40 Colt Army Special in his car and had been known to carry a Thompson submachine gun.
1905—2000(Hide quotations)
police power n. (a) Law (chiefly U.S.), the right of a government to make laws regulating conduct to the extent that they are necessary to secure the health, safety, good order, comfort, or general welfare of the community; (b) gen. any power exercised by a police force.
1821 Times 2 July 2/6,
I would not intrust with foreigners any police power over Frenchmen.
1932 N. M. Butler Looking Forward xi. 168
‘Police power’—which in American law means the principle that the public interest often requires the extension of government authority in repression..of individual activity or habit.
1967 Times 1 Dec. 8/3
Would it not be sensible to amend the Bill so that the police power to stop and ‘breathalyse’ people should be limited?
2002 Police Rev. 2 Aug. 7/2
The Met has been at the forefront of calls for the CSOs to be given limited police powers.
1821—2002(Hide quotations)
police procedural adj. and n. (a) adj. of or relating to police procedure, esp. as represented in a crime story; (b) n. a story (in a novel, film, television show, etc.) characterized by attention to the details of police procedure; cf. police novel n.
1957 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 15 Dec. 20/2
Milton K. Ozaki has nicely assimilated the police-procedural manner of Ed McBain and Jonathan Craig.
1963 N.Y. Times Bk.Rev. 17 Nov. 58/1
This is largely a straight police-procedural.
1970 Times 14 Feb. (Saturday Review section) 4/8
This is fundamentally what they call a police procedural with a more baroque ending than usual.
2002 NFT Programme Booklet
(National Film Theatre)
Apr.–May 34/2
A breakthrough police procedural thriller.
1957—2002(Hide quotations)
police rate n. a police tax; a tax for the maintenance of a police force.
1829 Times 15 Apr. 4/2
Overseers to levy police rate not to exceed 6d. in the pound, and collect the same.
1863 R. Alcock Capital of Tycoon I. 28
They pay road and police-rates.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 818/1
The county council of any county within the Metropolitan Police District has to transfer to the receiver of police a sum bearing..proportion to the police rate.
1985 Times 15 Oct. 2/5
He bitterly criticized Labour's ‘extremist’ councillors in London for planning to withhold next year's Metropolitan police rate.
1829—1985(Hide quotations)
police record n. † (a) a public record (cf. sense 3a) (obs.); (b) a dossier kept by the police on a person convicted of a crime; a personal history which includes some conviction for crime.
1773 A. Stuart Lett. to Ld. Mansfield 5
The great facility at Paris, by means of the capitation and police records, as well as other aids, of discovering any house or householder in any quarter of the town.
1860 R. W. Emerson Wealth in Conduct of Life
(U.K. ed.)
92
In Europe, crime is observed to increase or abate with the price of bread... The police records attest it.
2004 Bristol Evening Post
(Nexis)
13 Nov. 5
The victim of the fire had no convictions or police record of any sort.
1773—2004(Hide quotations)
police reporter n. a newspaper reporter who concentrates on stories concerning crime and police activity.
1813 Times 29 Apr. 3/4
A Police reporter, we understand, undertook to keep the transaction out of the papers.
1849 N.Y. Daily Globe 3 May 2/6
The above is furnished us by our Police Reporter.
1933 E. A. Powell Slanting Lines of Steel xix. 299
The despatches which now appeared in the American papers were signed by former columnists, theatrical critics, police reporters, [etc.]
1959 J. Thurber Years with Ross ii. 32
Ben Hecht..was a police reporter at heart, Elmer Davis a corn-belt intellectual.
1989 R. Baker Good Times viii. 88
The legend also insisted that police reporters led lives of romantic gaiety and carefree independence.
1813—1989(Hide quotations)
police riot n. a violent disturbance of the peace or display of brutality by a group of police officers, esp. one initially directed at civilians engaged in a protest or demonstration.
1828 Times 31 July 2/5
The inquest held at Fermoy on the body of the individual killed in what they call a police-riot, is still going on.
1969 Science 7 Mar. 1009/1
The violence of the police..vented itself not only on demonstrators but on dozens of newsmen... The Commission on Civil Disorders..characterized the event as a ‘police riot’.
1995 G. Horne Fire this Time vii. 141
What began as a black ‘riot’ aimed principally at the police became..a police riot aimed principally at blacks.
1828—1995(Hide quotations)
police runner n. now hist. a police officer of the lowest rank (cf. runner n.1 2c).
1782 J. P. Macmahon tr. L. S. Mercier Paris in Miniature 69
Yes, there are in this metropolis, beings more vile than the most abandoned street-walker, and this thing is a police runner.
1841 Times 8 Jan. 6/4
A number of lower officers, police runners, lictors, &c., were also present.
1988 China Q. 115 409
Indeed, recidivists were often ‘condemned’ to serve a tour of duty as a police runner.
1782—1988(Hide quotations)
police science n. chiefly U.S. the scientific study of the investigation and detection of crime; forensic science.
1851 Encycl. Americana
(new ed.)
X. 215/1
The scientific spirit of the Germans, connected with the character of their governments, has given rise, in that country, to the police sciences.
1927 Nat. Probation Assoc. Ann. Rep. & Proceedings 243
Many who are unfamiliar with real police work little realize the extent to which police science has developed.
1932 North Eastern Reporter 178 125/2
A director of the scientific crime detection laboratory of Northwestern University and professor of police science in that university.
2002 R. G. Mitchell Dancing at Armageddon ii. 44,
I think Berkeley was the first to offer a degree in police science. Till then it was catch as catch can.
1851—2002(Hide quotations)
police scientist n. chiefly U.S. a practitioner of, or expert in, police science.
1935 Times 10 Apr. 15/6
The best known of foreign police scientists, Dr. Locard, of Lyons, who has made a special study of dust, acknowledges that he is indebted in this matter to Holmes.
1991 Police May 37/1
Pioneer efforts, by men such as August Vollmer, the nation's first outstanding police scientist, brought an awareness that juvenile crime may be reduced effectively.
1935—1991(Hide quotations)
police siren n. the siren on a police vehicle.
1923 Nevada State Jrnl. 3 June 8/4
(heading)
Failure of motorists to heed police siren halts thief's capture.
2000 Daily Tel. 7 June 28/8
The Nineties were all about holing up in your inner-city loft, the merry sound of police sirens ringing in your ears.
1923—2000(Hide quotations)
police special n. a type of revolver, spec. a Colt Police Positive Special (designed to provide more firepower than the Police Positive).
1935 Hammond
(Indiana)
Times 19 Sept. 1/4
The meet Tuesday night was shot with .38 police specials.
2000 A. Sayle Barcelona Plates 78,
I on the other hand had chosen for my personal protection a revolver: Smith and Wesson short .38 police special.
1935—2000(Hide quotations)
police tape n. (a length of) plastic tape used by the police to form a temporary barrier to restrict public access to a particular area, usually the scene of a crime or accident.
1984 United Press Internat. Newswire
(Nexis)
12 Oct.
Lethal splinters of glass and wood littered the seaside promenade, bright in the morning seaside sunshine, cordoned off by reels of white police tape.
2001 S. Brett Death on Downs
(2002)
xxxix. 266
She looked across at the gutted building, roped off by police tapes.
1984—2001(Hide quotations)
police trap n. a means or arrangement employed by police for detecting or apprehending lawbreakers; (now) esp. an arrangement used for detecting motorists who exceed a speed limit; also fig.
1872 W. Jackson Philos. Nat. Theol. 65
The fraudulent procedure turns out a very useful police-trap.
1903 World's Work July 123/2
To set police traps for a man going thirteen miles an hour on an open road is sheer idiocy.
1966 M. R. D. Foot SOE in France vii. 173
The others fell successively into a Vichy police trap..at the Villa des Bois.
2003 Lincolnshire Echo
(Nexis)
7 Nov. 3
A man who drove through Lincoln at speeds of up to 70mph, mounted pavements and avoided police traps has failed to win a cut in his sentence.
1872—2003(Hide quotations)
police-trapped adj. nonce-wd. (of a road) having a police trap for detecting speeding motorists.
1902 Pall Mall Mag. 28 410/2
Every police-constable on the much-police-trapped Ripley Road.
1902—1902(Hide quotations)
police village n. Canad. (also with capital initials) (in Ontario) a small village administered by an elected group of trustees rather than a council or municipal corporation.
1849 Provinc. Statutes Canada 496
Each and every qualified person duly elected or appointed to be a Police Trustee of any police village.
1942 Canad. Jrnl. Econ. & Polit. Sci. 8 417
It [sc. the Municipal Act of Ontario] is now a statute..dealing with everything from the formation of new municipalities to the powers of police villages.
1995 Spectator
(Hamilton, Ont.)
25 Oct. b3
The legislation permitting the establishment of Police Villages was repealed in 1965.
1849—1995(Hide quotations)
police whistle n. a type of loud whistle used by the police.
1872 Condition of Affairs Late Insurrectionary States: Georgia
(U.S. Congr.)
II. 744,
I heard several whistles blow, like police whistles.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. viii. [Lestrygonians] 155
Police whistle in my ears still.
2003 N.Y. Times
(Nexis)
11 Dec. 5
Officer O'Rourke found him in the pitch black..by blowing his police whistle.
1872—2003(Hide quotations)
police witness n. a witness whose testimony supports a police prosecution.
1839 Times 6 Dec. 7/3
It was admitted even by the police witnesses, that there was no barrier or obstruction to prevent anybody from entering the saloon.
1932 ‘Solicitor’ Eng. Justice iii. 94
He seemed surprised when I said he was to plead ‘Not guilty’, and said, ‘But there's a police witness’.
1997 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 15 June 15/3
The other insists that they weighed the evidence, including the credulity of police witnesses, and had reasonable doubts.
1839—1997(Hide quotations)
Derivatives
poˈliceful adj. nonce-wd. full of policemen, having police everywhere.
1903 Speaker 9 May 133/1
To substitute a peaceful for a policeful Ireland.
1903—1903(Hide quotations)
poˈliceless adj. without police.
1845 Times 25 Mar. 4/5
The kingdom is benefitted by having no county left policeless and a refuge for thieves.
1900 H. G. Graham Social Life Scotl. 18th Cent.
(1901)
vii. i. 230
When a rare opportunity happened in policeless, jailless districts they [sc. statutes] were carried out with rigour.
2003 Express & Echo
(Exeter)
(Nexis)
28 May . 22,
I would like to thank J J Kelly for bringing the subject of asylum seekers, drug addicts, drunks and policeless streets out in the open.
1845—2003(Hide quotations)
† policeocracy n. Obs. nonce-wd. the rule of the police.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 July 1
A Protest against Policeocracy.
1887—1887(Hide quotations)
