Does it bug anyone else when media uses "cops" instead of "police"

[gmoney]

I'm no authoritarian, but I think it just sounds unprofessional and "dumbed down" when media people refer to police as "cops" in general usage.

"Cops were called to the scene of the accident..." or "The suspect led the cops on a high-speed chase..." just grates on me for some reason. I hear this all the time on local radio and TV news.

Was just reading a piece about the tragic suicide of a young rape victim at Notre Dame. http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/25/notre-dames-shameful-punt-in-the-probe-of-lizzy-seebergs-sad-d/ And while the piece is very powerful, it has the politicsdaily editor-in-chief Melinda Henneberger doing it several times... "...10 days after telling friends and campus cops that she'd been sexually assaulted..." and "...the next day made a full report to the Notre Dame cops." and "...the county cops who were supposed to be investigating her death."

Now, she may be doing it to underscore her point that the police were not acting on the victim's allegations, and that their behavior is more like "Keystone Kops" than professional law enforcement, but to my ear, it undermines her position as a reporter/editor.

What's next? "There is a riot at the prison and 20 screws are being held hostage? Local pigs have been called in..."

Yes, I'd like the police to behave more respectably and respectfully of individuals, but is this helping the discourse?

[WinkyDink]

1. It's the continual degradation of the vernacular: "cops"; "kids" (not even "children" in death);

"guys" for both genders and all ages; "fame" to include "infamy" and "notoriety"; etc.

[leftstreet]

2. No n/t

[HipChick]

3. still better than Bobbies..

because I always read it as Boobies..

[elocs]

4. No. On the list of things to get bugged about that should rank pretty low. n/t

[Crazy Dave]

5. No

I hope that doesn't keep you awake all night.

[Raschel]

6. It bothers me more that the media refers to our President as 'Obama' w/o the title.

[veganlush]

7. No.

[Ian David]

8. Henceforth, they shall be called "The Fuzz." n/t

[Kceres]

9. All slang dumbs down conversation.

During my medical transcription days I always changed the doctors' use of "he has three kids" to "he has three children". Kids are baby goats. Does that make me terribly stuffy?

[Crazy Dave]

11. Not at all

Calling children kids gives little goats a bad name.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[T Wolf]

12. That is a more accurate description of "that." That being said, Another way to view this "issue"

is that the nickname is an attempt to make something that is not human seem more human, and thus, less threatening.

Anyone with half a brain no longer has any "respect" for the law, our legal system, or the biological organisms that are the muscle and mouthpieces and arbiters of it.

Obeying "the law" is for suckers.

[valerief]

13. Media's omission of the truth bothers me more. nt

[Poboy]

14. Origin of 'cop'

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/cop.asp

[lunatica]

15. It's a step up from when we used to call them "Pigs"

I'm jesting. But you're right about what an editor or news person should say. They should know better and they say police officers or just police.

[LostInAnomie]

16. Haha... You're asking the wrong crowd on here.

For a many DUers, calling police anything better than "fucking pigs" is proof you're an authoritarian asshole.

[uppityperson]

17. Of course. Dumbing down of news and need for sound bites vs actually investigating/reporting

doesn't help much except maybe advertisers.

[KittyLover]

18. I'm sorry, sir,

but I certainly see humor in the fact that someone using a username "gmoney" is commenting on the slang for police officer. It just strikes me a bit funny.

To me, it's just how some people talk. Language adapts. I'm sure there's going to be terms I have no freakin' clue about when I'm 20 years older. I may not like them either, but it will be what it will be. I can't change it.

[FarCenter]

19. A cop isn't necessarily a police officer.

A "police officer" would be a member of a police force. A "cop" could be any law enforcement officer, e.g. a sheriff's deputy. "LEO" is a good alternative to "cop".

[Shandris]

20. Doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Police and Law Enforcement and all the other titles are just that - titles to an occupation that has very little to do with doing anything to protect or serve me, and everything to do with following up after some crime has been committed. Traveling clerks with guns and the ability to make life miserable for anyone whenever they want to without the slightest fear of repercussion.

I don't wish ill on them (except the corrupt ones; unfortunately, that's the majority of them in my area) but I DO wish they'd do their job a hell of a lot farther away from me. Still, I'm unfailingly polite to them when I see one (God help you if you're not), but every single interaction with them results in leaving you with a feeling of 'What the FUCK is their problem?'. That they should 'command' respect is a travesty.

Cops they are, and cops they shall remain. At BEST.

[Little Star]

21. Nope.

[ZombieHorde]

22. No, but that is a great pet peeve. You should unrec any thread which uses the term "cops" instead of

"police." Then you should post, "Unrec for 'dumbing down' the message board," unless of course the person places the word "cops" inside of quotes.

[AspenRose]

23. Blame the media and entertainment: There's a show called "COPS."

Whatcha gonna do (pun intended)? :shrug:

[Bluenorthwest]

24. It bothers me in that it is lazy and inspecific and serves the cops!

I want to know what department the are talking about, and their jo is accuracy. By the same token, it bothers me personally when people say 'the media' when they mean 'news media'. Because while reporters should report, others in the media should call them whatever they feel like calling them, comics, writers of drama, whoever is not in 'the news' should call them whatever, the heat, the man, NY's Swinest, Aunt Tilly, Barney Fife, whatever.

[DemocratAholic]

25. word has evolved

You could rate every word and give it a value. A word that is vulgar never to be used in polite company could be a 1, and a word that is acceptable at all times is a 5. As language evolves, some words move up and down the scale. At one time "cop" was probably between 2-3 on this scale. It has now basically reached level 5. This word is now used by any person in any situation without sounding slang or vulgar. The word is used by politicians, priests, grandmothers...and cops. Nobody thinks of it as implying anything derogatory. Even if you, yourself, find it slang...you KNOW that other people who use it are not implying anything derogatory or trying to sound slang. Perhaps the word filled a void in our language. It is a more general term which is easier to say than...police officer, or police department. And yes, it does have a different sense to it, not as respectful, but it is not considered disrespectful either.

[Puregonzo1188]

26. No. It's a standard term.

[Doc_Technical]

27. The dumbing down continues.

The use of "kinda" and sorta" is very disturbing.
I think most of these people are college graduates and
they say things such as:
"The woman is kinda pregnant"
or
"The victim is sorta dead"

Greeting each other by saying "Hey",
reminds me of the first opening scenes
of the movie "The Gang that couldn't shoot straight" (1971)

[DawgHouse]

28. I prefer the term "copper", with a nod to James Cagney. n/t

[Rochester]

29. I'm as likely to refer to them as pigs as anything else, so I don't think anything of this

[Greyhound]

30. Well, the police have generally become "unprofessional and dumbed down", so no. n/t

When they go back to being public servants, instead of thug enforcers, I will be among the first to defend them.

Obligatory disclaimer; There are good individuals and there may even be good departments left in the ranks of the American police forces. In fact, we had a great family friend that was a cop in Denver. He was pushed off the force in the 80's for resisting and objecting to the militarization of the department.

[petronius]

31. I'm generally irked by the increasing informality of the media and the

creeping inclusion of slang terms. My primary peeve is "busted" to mean broken, but cops/police and kids/children are also annoying. Still, I guess we can be grateful they haven't gone completely over to IM- and texting-speak (yet)...

[madinmaryland]

32. No. At least until the repukes stop calling us the Democrat Party.

:mad:

[Nye Bevan]

33. "Cops" has become pretty standard usage, even here on DU.

For example

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=540576&mesg_id=540593

[Raine]

34. No not really

It's a term that goes way back, doesn't bother me.