Thought I Knew What a Cop Was, But...

[America]

I'm curious, as to why on a website under commonly asked questions, a person with the FBI stated that THEY are NOT cops. I'm thinking this person sees investigators/detectives as totally separate from uniformed cops, or maybe they don't call any federal law enforcement people cops.
If what they said is true, I'm confused. Because city and state detectives are cops just as uniformed cops are cops, yet they have pretty different work to do, right? So why aren't federal law people considered cops?
Even though I seen this information ON the FBI's site, I still wonder if it's just an opinion. I always thought of cops as people who enforce and/OR investigate crimes to stop and prevent crimes. What am I missing here?
And now I'm wondering if FAA (aviation) Investigators and Postal Inspectors are considered cops. I know postal Inspectors, at least, are considered to be in the law enforcement field. Are they a type of cop? Why or why not?

America

[scan]

Intersting :p

[Mongo]

Who knows . . . .?

How about those dodgers?

[txinvestigator1]

:rolleyes:

I'll try this.

COP is a term generally used to describe Law Enforcement Officers employed by local jurisdictions. Examples include City Police Officers, City Marshalls, County Deputy Sheriff's, etc., whose primary visible function is UNIFORMED Patrol.

All LEO's within these agencies are usually considered COPS.

At the state level, most people refer to LEO's as troopers, Highway Patrol, etc; although, due to the uniforms worn most would consider them COPS.

Federal Agencies, on the other hand, seldom have uniformed officers, and the term COP rarely is applied to them. They have no "patrol" and are investigative.

Most are referred to as "Agent" .

Remember there are no "legal" definitions of COP, so it is a term defined by society.

[txinvestigator1]

:rolleyes:

I'll try this.

COP is a term generally used to describe Law Enforcement Officers employed by local jurisdictions. Examples include City Police Officers, City Marshalls, County Deputy Sheriff's, etc., whose primary visible function is UNIFORMED Patrol.

All LEO's within these agencies are usually considered COPS.

At the state level, most people refer to LEO's as troopers, Highway Patrol, etc; although, due to the uniforms worn most would consider them COPS.

As a matter of fact, in my Intro to LE classes, we were taught the term COP was an acronym for 'Constable on Patrol' from old England, or possibley short for the term 'Copper' which was in reference to the Copper from which the badges were made.

Federal Agencies, on the other hand, seldom have uniformed officers, and the term COP rarely is applied to them. They have no "patrol" and are investigative.

Most are referred to as "Agent" .

Remember there are no "legal" definitions of COP, so it is a term defined by society.

[America]

Mongo, are you being silly? You mean the TEAM the Dodgers? Don't you think watching "FBI Files" would be more interesting? Alot of people (interesting ones) play GAMES with them. So things get more complex, and vary more and it all keeps your interest. I don't have one favorite state yet. Isn't that how people pick teams, or by how they PLAY the game? I say...Go FBI!!

America

[America]

Well, it seems I may have a thorough enough answer from txinvestigator1.


America

[banjoppd]

The best compliment I ever gave to a 1811 Fed was that he acted and thought like a COP. He was real proud of that when he knew he was accpeted by the state and locals he worked with every day. He's a GS now over a task force with state/locals/feds in another state now.

[911]

The FBI ARE cops, just like the SA's in every alphabet agency.
If you doubt it, go to Miami, Chicago, L.A or NY and ride with them on their calls. They file cases which convict suspects for hundreds of years. If that ain't a cop, I don't know what is.

[America]

I still think they're cops/ or police...myself.

I am confused by a response to a question I saw at www.fbi.gov
I went to the bottom of the page (where you see all gold) and clicked on Commonly Asked Questions.
Then I saw a quetion that pretty much asked, "Is the FBI a National Police Force?" And the answer was no. Maybe they mean they don't respond to crimes in the same way as the locals or SOMETHING that wasn't specified in their answer. I believe most people in society would view them as cops/police. Some people fear the feds (in different areas) taking over the country...HOW in America?... don't know. Maybe this is why they don't want to be seen as police. Actually...I can't see them giving that answer JUST to make people think different; that wouldn't make sense either.

America

[911]

Some countries have a National Police Force, such as New Zealand or South Korea or Japan or South Africa. The officers on these agencies are patrol cops who respond to all jobs they are dispatched to. Barking dogs, homicides, assaults, wrecks etc. The FBI do not do this. They are specifically tasked to investigate certain federal crimes. The US is fragmented, with 18,000 local PDs, over 3000 Sheriff's Offices and numerous federal agencies. It does not have a National Police Force.

[Charlie]

txinvestigator1 has, as usual, made an excellent attempt at trying offer insight to the generally accepted application of this term in the world of law enforcement.

The only thoughts I can add to this, as an example, is that a portion of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) defines the differences between "Peace Officers" and "Federal Agents." Federal "agents" primarily enforce federal laws whereas "peace officers" primarily enforce state and local laws. There is, at least in Texas, a defined dividing line between the two and what their recognized resepective authorities are. I think this may be a factor in reference to this issue.

I would also add that geographic location lends an effect to the application of this term. What we may refer to as a "COP" in Texas may not be the same as what this term is applied to in some other state.

Charlie

[FSUGrad]

The term cop comes from the shortening of the word "copper" which is what people called the police in the old days because they wore copper badges. I still don't know if it was meant to be derogatory or not. Some officers get pissed when you call them a cop; I don't knwo why (I guess they feel they deserve more respect by being called their proper title?). I've been a cop for 13 years. I've worked at a university pd, a municipal pd, state police agencies and now on a federal lever. I'm a cop! A cop is an attitude, not a uniform, title or position. I know many law enforcement officers who are not cops. A cop waves at other cops whether he's on duty or not. A cop slows down on the interstate to make sure that trooper with the car pulled over isn't getting his/her *** kicked. A cop stops for broken down motorists when he's on his own time. A cop still gets pissed off when a innocent person gets victimized.

As a fed, when other cops call me a cop, I'm proud. But the sad truth is, not everyone who puts on a uniform or carries federal creds is a cop. You have to earn being a cop.

[FSUGrad]

Sorry for my typos. Despite being a cop, I'm a poor typist!

[Stump]

Pssst, FSU -- there is an "edit" button to the left of the post, underneath your name/avatar.... You can just edit any post you make.