Police officer glossary.
Police officer glossary.
20 terms
The police officer program prepares students to work in law enforcement and protect the community. This glossary explains important words used in police work. It can help students and future police officers like me to understand common terms they will hear during training and at job.
- Arrest
- The action of seizing someone to take into custody.
- badge
- A distinctive emblem worn as a mark of office, membership, achievement, licensed employment, etc.
- body camera
- A small video camera worn on the body, typically used by police officers to record arrests, evidence from crime scenes, etc.
- court testimony
- When an officer speaks in court about what they observed in a case?
- crime
- An action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law.
- dispatch
- An official report on state or military affairs.
- evidence
- The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.
- investigation
- The action of investigating something or someone; formal or systematic examination or research.
- law enforcement
- The activity of compelling observance of or compliance with the law.
- patrol
- An expedition to keep watch over an area, especially by guards or police walking or driving around at regular intervals.
- probable cause
- Reasonable grounds (for making a search, pressing a charge, etc.).
- radio communication
- The system officers used to talk with dispatch and other officers.
- report
- Give a spoken or written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated.
- search warrant
- A legal document authorizing a police officer or the other official to enter and search premises.
- suspect
- Have an idea or impression of the existence, presence, or truth of (something) without certain proof?
- traffic stop
- When the police stop a vehicle to check for violations or concerns.
- uniform
- Remaining the same in all cases and at all times; unchanging in form or character.
- use of force
- The amount of physical effort used by a police officer to control a situation.
- victim
- A person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or action.
- witness
- A person who sees an event, typically a crime or accident, take place.