Coffee and Donuts: What Makes Cops Different

There are three kinds of people in the world. There are wolves and there are sheep. And
then there are those who protect the sheep from the wolves. (Christopher Shields) Police
officers are the civil force of a national or local government in most countries, especially in the
United States. They are responsible for the prevention and the detection of crime and the
maintenance of order in and around their community. This is why I plan to go to the Charlotte
Mecklenburg Police Department directly after I graduate from college. My main endeavor in life
is to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, however.
Essentially, every profession has their own individual manner of communication with
each other. For example, doctors, clerics, and lawyers regularly use the language of Latin in
which they know what they are talking about but most of their clients/patients dont. Likewise,
police officers also have their own language that they use both on-duty and off-duty to
communicate easily and effectively. Police jargon refers to a large body of acronyms,
abbreviations, codes, and slang used by law enforcement personnel to provide quick and concise
descriptions of people, places, property, and situations in both spoken and written
communication. If an individual that lacks police insight listened in on a conversation between
two police officers, he or she would be clueless. It would seem like the individual would have to
decipher an entirely new language.
Many new officers find it difficult, and sometimes useless, to decrypt the language but
police jargon and the use of police codes actually serves a purpose. People often assume the
reason for talking in codes is so the public cannot easily interpret what cops are saying. In truth,
this is far from being the case. A quick Internet search for police codes or police jargon will
show that most agencies make their codes public, so that anyone can quickly and easily pick up

on their meaning. The purpose of police jargon, codes and slang is to maintain a quick and
concise form of communication.
Even when they are not on-duty, police officers tend to use the same codes as they would
when they are on the job. For instance, they occasionally say something along the lines of
watch your six or Ive got your six which means to watch your back or Ive got your
back. This term originated in the United States Air Force in which a pilot would say to his
wingman watch your six when they would come in contact with enemy aircraft. After many
years, the other branches of the United States military began to use this code when they would go
into hostile territory. Eventually the police forces of the local and state governments adopted the
term because it is more efficient and quick.
Another code that they use is 10-4 which means message received or I understand.
This is a code that most people use during radio communication. They use this code on-duty to
tell their dispatcher that they understood what they recently told them. They also tend to use this
code when they are not on the job. When they are talking to each other they might tell the other
something and hell just simply reply with a 10-4 and they will know what both of them are
talking about. This code has been used for a very long time and the police officers know what
they are talking about when this code is used. Police officers find that these codes are very
effective in communicating with other officers because they are quick and they know what they
are talking about. When they get a call, they find that these codes are extremely effective when
they try to arrest someone or when they detain someone or even when they are trying to
investigate.
As everyone knows, cops like coffee and donuts, a lot. Their community responds to it
by giving them giving them free coffee and donuts when they arrive at certain coffee and donut

shops. They drink the coffee because they have to be awake and alert when they are on the job.
Drinking coffee is a common practice or behavior that most, if not all police officers do. Police
officers also like to hang out together when they arent on-duty. They like to go to bars and
drink while playing pool or just talking about their personal life or some other stuff that they feel
like talking about. They do this because when you are a police officer, you have to trust your
fellow officers with your life. Thats because they might go to a disturbance call and have to
fight their way out and they HAVE to know that his/her partner has their back or as they would
say, their six. This says that the police community is close-knit and most of them are like
family to each other because they spend so much time together even when they arent in
uniform.
Police officers serve to protect the people of their communities as well as their property.
This is a common goal or belief that all police officers live by. This has always been police
officers goal and they have to vow to abide by that when they get sworn in the police force after
they graduate from the police academy. They believe strongly in this goal because they are
being paid to protect their community and the people within that community. This goal helps
them to make sense of the world because they are trying to protect the community in which they
are living and raising a family. They want to protect that community and make it as peaceful as
they can in order to fulfill that goal.
On the job, police officers use their radios to communicate with each other as well as
with their dispatcher and other emergency services such as the fire departments. When they are
off-duty, they use their cell phones to communicate with each other. According to my
interviewee, who requested to stay anonymous, police officers use phones outside of the force
because they are not allowed to be on the radio when they are off-duty. This limits the amount

of traffic that is on the frequency so that the cops who are on the job can hear when they are
needed in case of emergency.
Obviously the threshold to get in to this discourse community is to pass the training at the
police academy and to get hired by the police department. This threshold is very limited because
there are a number of criteria that they must meet before becoming a police officer. For
example, the requirements for joining the CMPD (Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department)
are:

Have a high school diploma or GED, but we encourage applicants to have at least an
Associate Degree.

Be at least 21 years old.

Be a United States citizen.

Have or be able to obtain a North Carolina Driver's License.

Have not committed or been convicted of any felony or serious misdemeanors.

Have an Honorable Military Discharge, General Discharges are evaluated on a case by

case basis.

Pass an entry level written examination.

Pass an entry level physical ability test.

Pass an extensive background investigation including psychological examination,

polygraph examination, etc.

Pass a pre-employment Medical Examination and Drug Screening Test.

Certain past drug use will result in disqualification. Marijuana usage in the last 12 months
or usage of Schedule I drugs and other drugs in the past 10 years.

Must have Normal Color Vision.

Must have minimum corrected visual acuity of 20/30 binocularly.

(http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/CMPD/organization/Administrative/PoliceTrainingAcade
my/Pages/employmentstandards.aspx)

These requirements are well-thought out because they want to ensure that the public is in the
best hands and that they want to make sure that their officers have the best training. There are
many ways to get kicked out of the police force which mostly include illegal actions such as
stealing or killing the innocent. Basically all the things that can land you in a jail cell will get
you kicked off the force. All the actions that can lead to you being arrested are the taboos of the
police officer discourse community. These men and women are being paid to look after their
community and expected not to break the law. If they break that code, they are basically lying to
the chief of police and to their community because of the oath they have to vow to uphold when
they get sworn in as a police officer. This really does affect the police department because they
take lying to seriously.
The rules of the police discourse community have been in place since there have been a
police force in each city and state. They dont really get to be changed unless there is a majority
vote to change a certain rule by the heads of each department and each state government. This
would only happen on a rare occasion though because they really dont like to change the rules
often. The people who have more authority are the sergeants, detectives, and the police chiefs of
the different departments. The ultimate authority comes from the mayors and governors of the
states, however. There is a direct line that you have to follow in order to work your way up in
rank to police chief and detective. A new member could gain more power if they solve a lot of
crimes in a short time period or if they get a certain number of arrests in a limited time period.

Another way they could gain power is if they get injured in the line of duty because the police
officers understand that they went through a lot and got injured protecting their community and
this builds a lot of respect. Older and more experienced officers like to tease the newer and
younger cops because thats just how they get to know them and trust them more. They also like
to do this to the newer cops because they like to show their authoritative figure to them to show
that they are in charge even though they really arent.

Police officers might not make a great deal of money, but they sure do have one of the
toughest jobs in the world. From the two month training period when they are going through the
police training academy to the many hours they spend on paperwork for each case they solve;
they have the hardest job but they make the most out of it.

Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community
gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.
Robert Kennedy