List of Police-related Slang Terms - P

P

Paco

A derogatory Chilean term for Carabineros, the national police force of Chile. In Costa Rica, a familiar term for police, loosely derogatory. The term comes from the nickname 'Paco' given to Francisco Calderón, a Security Minister in the 1940s.

Panda Car

UK, a police car. Named because they were originally painted with large panels of black and white, or blue (usually light blue) and white.

Pandu

Indian constabulary (and not officers) were recruited mostly from village areas. Derived from Marathi movie "Pandu Hawaldar" where the protagonist is a constable named as Pandu.

Pandur

Serbo-Croatian derogatory term for a police officer (plural Pandurija, as a term for the police in general). In its origin, it was the Pandurs, who served as the watchmen on the Austrian Military frontier.

Paner/Panser

Danish slang for police officer. Derived from the slang word "panser".

Panier à salade

French, old slang for a police van (meaning "salad shaker"). Comes from the grillaged windows of the vans used during the 1970s and 1980s, reminding of a salad shaker.

Panserbasse

Belittleing Danish slang for policemen. "Basse" or "bassemand" is similar to the English words "hubby" or "big boy", which is why the slang is suggesting the policemen are fat and harmless.

Party Van

Internet slang for Police or FBI van.

Paskalakki

Finnish, derogatory. Literally means "hat (full) of shit".

Pasma

Spain, slang, derogatory term for police.

Pedal Bacon

UK, Police on Bicycles.

Peeler, Peelers

UK, slang, archaic, from Sir Robert Peel (see 'Bobby'); it has largely disappeared in mainland Britain, is often used in Northern Ireland, usually pejoratively. Canada, colloquial, refers to Peel Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada. Considered derogatory as "peeler" is slang for a striptease dancer.

Penelope's

US. A slang word for the police term coined by the San Francisco Bay Area rap artist E-40.

Perp Walk

US. A slang term for dramatically parading an arrested subject (the perpetrator or "perp") in shackles before the press for no other purpose than for the photo-op. On frequent occasions, notorious subjects already in custody are taken out of jail and sent out the back door of a police station, only to be driven around the corner and then removed from the vehicle in order to convey an impression that the suspect is first arriving at the police station.

Pig

This derogatory term was frequently used during the 19th century, disappeared for a while, but reappeared during the 20th and 21st century. It became frequently used again during the 1960s and 1970s in the underground and anti-establishment culture. Now prevalent in many English-speaking countries. It is also used in anti-authoritarian punk and hip-hop circles. Oz magazine showed a picture of a pig dressed as a policeman on a front cover.

Placa

A commonly Spanish slang term used by Mexicans on the West Coast.

Plastic Policemen

UK. A term used for Community Support Officers as they only have they don't even have the same powers of arrest as civilians. Likening them to a toy policeman (fake)

Plain Brown Wrapper

Most commonly used by truck drivers over the CB radio, in reference to unmarked vehicles and plainclothes police officers, usually of local or state jurisdictions.

Plastics

Colloquial term used by Australian state police to refer to the Australian Federal Police.

Plod

An allusion to Mr Plod the Policeman in Enid Blyton's Noddy stories for children, to plod meaning to walk doggedly and slowly with heavy steps. Also known as "PC Plod".

Plonk

Police slang for female officer.

Pokey

Slang term for prison. From the word meaning "small".

Polente

German slang term for police.

Pollari

A Finnish slang term. Literally means "bollard" (a post for fastening boats), but a more probable etymology is simply a colloquial form of the word poliisi ("police").

Pols or Poles

Canada, usually plural phrase "the pols".

Politzai

(ru pl полицаи sg полицай) – in Russia after renaming Militia to Police (ru Полиция Politzia) in March 2011. From German word "Polizei".

Ponies

A term commonly used by members of the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to refer to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Po-po or Po

A term used commonly in North America as seen in the TV show The Wire.

Porky or Porker

From the Porky Pig cartoon and variation on "pig", usually specific to small town officers embodying the doughnut stereotype, "porker" variant may relate to "copper".

Poulet

French, translates as "chicken", derogatory. As in, Q: What do you get when the police station catches fire? A: "poulet rôti" (roast chicken).

Prahare

Nepalese for police.

Psy

Polish for "dogs", singular – "pies", squad cars or police vans are often called "suki", which means "bitches", singular – "suka", because there are dogs inside.

Puerco/Cerdo

Mexican, derogatory, slang. Spanish for pig.

Purk

Norwegian, derogatory, Norwegian for "sow".

La Pula

Italian and Italian-American slang. Shortened form of polizia.

PC

Abbreviation of the rank "Police Constable". Also used by the Ontario Provincial Police to abbreviate "Provincial Constable". Constable is used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and most other ex-British Empire countries.

PW

Police Woman. Sometimes considered derogatory or merely impolite. See also WPC.