In an article headed Cops Talk Funny, Val Van Brocklin points out some of the curious turns of phrase used by U.S. police in court. British police do this too, though not always using the same terms.
# He indicated… He said
# I have been employed by… I worked for
# I exited the patrol vehicle… I got out of the car
# I observed… I saw
# I ascertained the location of the residence… I found the house
# I proceeded to the vicinity of… I went to
# I approached the entrance… I went to the door
# The subject approached me… She came up to me
# I apprehended the perpetrator… I arrested the man
# I obtained an item that purported to be an envelope from the individual… I got the envelope from her
# I observed the subject fleeing on foot from the location… I saw him running away
She actually seems to believe that police could be trained not to speak like this.
(Via Boing Boing)
Should be trained NOT to speak like this? But aren’t they TRAINED to speak like this? Surely this doesn’t come to them naturally? And why is the policeman called Mr(.) Plod in Happy Families? I bet he didn’t plod to begin with.
Interesting that US police-speak is very similar to the UK’s mealy-mouthed versions often dished up to the mass media.
When a famous English soccer-player – surely not one of Margaret’s heroes – got arrested a month ago for a brawl outisde a Merseyside night-club: ‘a 28 year-old man from Liverpool has been taken into custody and is currently helping police with their (its?)enquiries’.
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