Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

...when you all are talking to each other :coolgleamA:

Depends on the part of the country. Here we call them suspects. Some call them perps, but not in this area.

I call them "the people who weren't hugged and loved enough as a child people" :)

I call them defendant's in my reports.

Which reminds me of a story:

I was in court on a DWI case not to long ago and the defense attorney was asking me questions while I was in the hot seat. No matter what he asked me, I started out with, "The defendant........". After about 15 or so questions the defense caught on to what I was doing and then stated, "You call my client defendant and I know and call him Mr. Smith. Now tell me what the defendant was driving that night, I mean tell me what Mr. Smith was driving?" I could not hold back, I started laughing at him and so did some of the jurors. :thumbsup:


Be Safe.

I call them defendant's in my reports.


More often than not, we are writing reports regarding the crime before they are arrested. Sometimes we only have a description. Once they are arrested, we may call them defendant.

In court, I generally found it advantageous to call them by name rather than defendant. I also addressed the defense attorney by name whenever possible. Made me look like a nicer guy.....:coolgleamA:

More often than not, we are writing reports regarding the crime before they are arrested. Sometimes we only have a description. Once they are arrested, we may call them defendant.

In court, I generally found it advantageous to call them by name rather than defendant. I also addressed the defense attorney by name whenever possible. Made me look like a nicer guy.....:coolgleamA:

Point well taken! I will try both next time. We did not get a guilty verdict. I know it was not me that lost the case, I used yes sir and no sir the entire day! lol


Be Safe.

...when you all are talking to each other :coolgleamA:

I'm a little redneck, so I like to keep things real simple. When talking to other LE, I just them the "Bad Guy!"


Be Safe.

Point well taken! I will try both next time. We did not get a guilty verdict. I know it was not me that lost the case, I used yes sir and no sir the entire day! lol


Be Safe.

A trick I learned was to learn the name of the defense attorney before I went on the stand. As soon as the prosecutor turned me over to the defense, I would say, "Good morning/afternoon Mr/Ms Whattheirname" and smile real big.

1. It always took them off guard and rattled them for a moment and
2. If they tried to be hostile towards me, I was more sympathetic looking to the jury.

I was told that trick by a defense attorney and it works. You want to be as human as possible and not mechanical sounding like so many cops are.

What about some of the bad names you call them?

We call them suspects here. When I'm writing a report, if I don't know who a person is at that time I use the word "subject". Once I know where they fit into the story, i.e. Suspect, Victim, Witness, in our reports we qualify them each time by prefacing their last name with whatever they are (S/Smith would be Suspect Smith, W/Jones = Witness Jones).

When talking with other cops I usually say suspect or bad guy. (Yes, even if it's a girl!)

What about some of the bad names you call them?


"Real Bad Guy!"




Be Safe.

Once we did a controlled purchase they titled "bandit."

I've heard: subjects, suspects, badguys, perps, person/subject of interest, and Mopes

When I deal with a real ******* I call them "Safety Steves"


:D


I've heard: subjects, suspects, badguys, perps, person/subject of interest, and Mopes

Don't forget "actor"

"richard cranium"

I have heard "scumbag" "Sh**bird" "POS" "turd bucket" "Sh**head" "f**knut" "as*hole" "cho-mo" "scrote"....but we mostly just refer to them as suspects.

In my area they are also refered to as toads.

I have heard "scumbag" "Sh**bird" "POS" "turd bucket" "Sh**head" "f**knut" "as*hole" "cho-mo" "scrote"....but we mostly just refer to them as suspects.

Great stuff. Thanks.