Love You Dead

ANPR — Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Roadside or mobile cameras which automatically capture the registration number of all cars that pass. It can be used to historically track which cars went past a certain camera and can also trigger alerts for cars which are stolen, have no insurance or have an alert attached to them.

ARV — Armed Response Vehicle.

CAD — Computer Aided Dispatch. The system where all calls from the public are logged and, if they require police attendance, the record of who attended and what the outcome was.

CCTV — Closed Circuit Television. Can be either publicly owned and monitored (e.g. by the police), or privately installed in people’s houses or businesses.

CIA — Central Intelligence Agency. The United States intelligence service.

CID — Criminal Investigation Department. Usually refers to the divisional detectives rather than the specialist squads.

CIM — Critical Incident Manager. Usually a Chief Inspector who takes control of critical incidents when they are assessed as being beyond the scope of Ops-1, either due to their seriousness or the complexity of the volume of other demands on Ops-1.

CITES — Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. An international agreement between governments, its aim being to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

Commanders

Gold (or strategic) Commander — The gold commander sets the strategy and assumes and retains overall strategic command for the operation or incident.

Silver (or tactical) Commander — The silver commander commands and coordinates the overall tactical response in compliance with Gold’s strategy, and is the tactical commander of the incident.

Bronze (or operational) Commander — The bronze commander is responsible for the command of a group of resources, and carries out functional or geographical responsibilities to deliver the requirements set by Silver in their tactical plan.

CPS — Crown Prosecution Service. The public agency that conducts criminal prosecutions in England and Wales.

CSA — Command Secretarial Assistant. A secretary to senior officers.

CSI — was SOCO — Crime Scene Investigators (Scenes of Crime Officers). They are the people who attend crime scenes to search for fingerprints, DNA samples, etc.

DNA — Deoxyribonucleic Acid. A molecule that encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses. Used in policing to identify the source of bodily samples left at crime scenes. Generally provides a 1:1-billion certainty of the source/person.

DVLA — Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority. The Government agency that registers motor vehicles and issues driving licences. An important source of intelligence in many enquiries.

Europol — The European Union law enforcement agency. Assists police and other enforcement bodies in EU member states in their fight against serious international organized crime and terrorism.

FBI — Federal Bureau of Investigation. The US national police agency, which has jurisdiction across all states for ‘federal’ offence investigation.

FLO — Family Liaison Officer. The trained and dedicated officer deployed to work with a bereaved family to provide support, information and to identify lines of enquiry.

FLUM — Flash Unsolicited Message. A direct short message sent between computer screens, mainly in the control room, to alert other controllers or supervisors to either a significant incident or an important update on an ongoing incident. It flashes up alerting the recipient to its content immediately.

Gold Group — A senior group of police, local community members, politicians and other stakeholders drawn together to manage the impact of a critical incident.

Golf 99 — The call sign for the divisional duty inspector who is expected to take ground command of critical incidents, working usually for Ops-1 or the CIM.

GP — General Practitioner, a medical doctor.

HOLMES — Home Office Large Major Enquiry System. The national computer database used on all murder enquiries. It provides a repository of all messages, actions, decisions and statements, allowing the analysis of intelligence and the tracking and auditing of the whole enquiry. Can enable enquiries to be linked across force areas when necessary.

i360 — British Airways i360 will be the world’s first vertical cable car, designed by the architects of the London Eye. It is under construction in Brighton, and due to be completed in 2016.

Intel Cell — Intelligence cell. A dedicated team of officers and staff who provide the intelligence research and analysis for a major crime or incident.

Interpol — International law enforcement agency. It has 190 member states and assists in cross-border investigations, especially involving terrorism, cybercrime and organized and emerging crime.

The Keep — The central records office for Brighton and Hove City and East Sussex County Councils.

LAMBS — Locals Against Mayfield Building Sprawl. A local action group in Sussex.

Letter of Request — The formal request sent by one country’s prosecution service to another asking for permission for the police to carry out enquiries and investigations within the other’s territory.

LST — Local Support Team. The standing unit of officers who provide public order, search and low-level surveillance tactics on a division.

MIR-1 — Major Incident Room 1. One of the large rooms in the Major Incident Suite where most of the investigation team work and brief.

Misper — Short for ‘missing person’.

MO — Modus Operandi (method of operation). The manner by which the offender has committed the offence. Often this can reveal unique features which allow crimes to be linked or suspects to be identified.

NCA — The National Crime Agency.

NPAS 15 — The call sign for the helicopter that provides air support to Sussex Police.

Ops-1 — The call sign of the Force Control Duty Inspector, who has oversight and command of all critical incidents in the initial stages.

PCSO — Police Community Support Officer. These are uniformed neighbourhood officers who work in communities but do not have police powers such as arrest, search, use of force, etc.

PO Box — Post Office Box. An alternative address at which to receive mail in the UK. PO Box addresses can be used to keep your address private and post can be delivered to a forwarding address or collected.

POLSA — Police Search Advisor. A trained and accredited officer who provides advice on where to search for something or someone, and how in any given circumstance. Will often supervise the search teams used in such searches.

RPU — Roads Policing Unit. The new name for the Traffic Division.

RTC — Road Traffic Collision (commonly known as an ‘accident’ by the public, but this term is not used as it implies no one is at fault when usually someone is).

RV Point — Rendezvous Point. The designated location where emergency services meet prior to deploying to the scene of a crime or major incident. Used when it would be too dangerous or unwieldy for everyone to arrive at the scene at the same time in an uncoordinated way.

SIO — Senior Investigating Officer. Usually a Detective Chief Inspector who is in overall charge of the investigation of a major crime such as murder, kidnap or rape.

SOCO — see CSI.

SSU — Specialist Search Unit. The team who provide expert search skills such as searching underwater or in confined places at height, as well as locations where a high degree of search expertise is required, such as large or complex crime scenes.

TFU — Tactical Firearms Unit. The small, permanently armed department of the police that responds to firearms incidents. They often deploy in ARVs (see above), and also have other specialist capabilities.

UC — Undercover Officer.

Slang and Phrases

ABC — Assume Nothing, Believe No one, Check Everything. The Senior Investigating Officer’s mantra for maintaining an open and enquiring mindset in investigations.

Bosher — the heavy metal handheld ram used to force open doors, allowing officers to enter a locked premises or room swiftly and with the advantage of surprise.

Bundle — a fight, or a file of documents prepared and presented at court or to CPS for advice.

Copper’s Nose — police officer’s instinct. The sixth sense which often guides an officer’s suspicions.

Golden Hour — the first hour after a crime has been committed or reported when the best chances of seizing evidence and/or identifying witnesses exist.

PC Rain — so called as a good downpour has a greater chance of clearing people, including drunks and criminals, off the street than any number of police officers can!

Q Word — short for ‘quiet’. Emergency services personnel never say the word ‘quiet’, as it invariably is a bad omen causing all chaos to reign!

Shit magnet — slang for a police officer who seems to attract trouble and around whom disaster invariably reigns.

Shout — slang for an emergency (999) call. All emergency services use this term.

Chart of Police Ranks[1]

Police ranks are consistent across all disciplines and the addition of prefixes such as ‘detective’ (e.g. detective constable) does not affect seniority relative to others of the same rank (e.g. police constable).