Bobby: policeman
Breach of Licence: in a lot of cases, UK prisoners can be released early — sometimes having served only half their sentence. In this case the person released is on licence for the time he/she still has to serve and this will have good behaviour conditions. If these conditions are not met then the licence is breached and the person will be returned to prison to serve the rest of their sentence
Brickie: a bricklayer
Brown: street name for heroin. Usually the complete reference would be a ‘bag of brown.’
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bung: bribe
Bunk: ‘do a bunk’ means escape
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Call sign: characters used to identify who’s broadcasting on police radio
Cannon: slang for a firearm of any sort
Car park: parking lot
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Charity Shop: thrift store
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
Choring: theft, usually when referring to stealing from shops/shoplifting
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvies: civilians who work for the police
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Cling film: plastic wrap for food
Clock: punch
Clutch: a pedal that needs to be pushed in order to change gear in a manual car
Cock and bull: made up, nonsense
Cock up: mess up, make a mistake
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): high school
Co-op: UK supermarket chain
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Cough it: a police term for someone admitting an offence in interview.
Council: local government
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Dabs: fingerprints
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
Deck: hit (verb)
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Disability benefit: in the UK, persons deemed illegible to seek or take on employment due to ill health are given an additional monthly payment called a ‘disability benefit.’
Disqual driver: in the UK you can be disqualified from driving if you accrue twelve points or more (four offences where you receive three points for a simple speeding offence for example). There are also other ways to be disqual, such as being convicted for a drunk-drive offence.
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Dooby: slang for a rolled-up cigarette containing marijuana
Doc Martens: heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Dog van: food truck usually found in industrial estates, large hardware store carparks or laybys to busy roads, these are mobile vans or trailers that serve fast food to passing customers.
Donkey’s years: long time
DS: detective sergeant
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Early turn: early shift
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Effing: euphemism for fucking.
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Fag: cigarette
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Filth: police (insulting)
FMO: force medical officer
Forces: army, navy, and air force
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gavver: a popular slang word in some parts of the UK for a police officer. Especially among the gypsy community
GBH: one of the most serious types of assault — stands for Grievous Bodily Harm.
Geordie: from Newcastle
Gob: mouth; can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
H: slang for the class A drug ‘Heroin’
Habdabs: extreme anxiety
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
Hate crime: a hate crime is a crime committed against someone because of their race, nationality, religious beliefs or sexuality — this list is not exhaustive
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HMP: Her Majesty's Prisons
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organisation
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
IPCC: the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The commission that investigates potential wrong-doing by individual officers or police forces in the UK
Mare: short for nightmare. e.g. ‘that bloke was a right mare in interview.’
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
JCB: a mechanical excavator
Jerry-built: badly made
Job (in police sense): if you respond to a 999 call as a UK police officer you may well refer to it as ‘going to a job’
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lord Lucan: famous aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974. Has never been found.
Lorry: a truck
Luftwaffe: German air force
Milk float: these are becoming rarer in the UK. They are effectively electric flat-bed vans used to deliver milk to homes in the early hours of the morning
Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie
Mobile phone: cell phone
MOD: ministry of defence
MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area
Naff: lame, not good
Nan: grandmother
National Service: compulsory UK military service, ended in 60s
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Number ones: all UK police officers are issued a dress uniform which is then used for formal occasions throughout their career. Internally these are known as number ones
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale
Nutter: insane person
Old bag: old woman (insulting)
Old Bill: police
Online: houses and persons in the UK who sell drugs often notify their potential customers by sending out text messages. They will announce themselves as ‘online.’ This means they are open for business and there are drugs on the premises
On the blink: broken
Owt: anything
P&O: ferry/shipping company
Pants: underwear (noun); bad/rubbish/terrible (adjective)
Para: paratrooper
Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance
PC: police constable
PCSO: Police Community Support Officer. Uniform officers who are not police officers but do some of the tasks that would otherwise be completed by officers
Petrol: gasoline
Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence
Pillock: fool
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Pissing down: raining
Piss-take: a mocking act
Pistol: an armed officer
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
Playing field: sports field
Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
Plimsolls: a type of rubber-soled trainer (or sneaker)
PNC: police national computer
Po: slang term for the police. More often used by inner-city gangs of youths
Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
Post: mail
Prat: silly idiot
Premier League: top English soccer division
PSD: Professional Standards Department
PSNI: police service of Northern Ireland
Public Analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes
Pushchair: stroller
RAF: Royal Air Force
Rag: newspaper
Raghead: offensive term for people thought to be of Middle Eastern origin
Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window
Randy: horny
Recce: reconnaissance
Red Adair: famous oil well firefighter
Resus: resuscitation room
Right state: messy
Ring: telephone (verb)
Roadworks: repairs done to roads
Royal Engineers: British army corps dealing with military engineering etc.
RSPB: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
RTC: road traffic collision
Rugger: rugby (posh American football)
RV: rendezvous point
Sarge: sergeant
SCO19: Specialist Crime and Operations Specialist Firearms Command
Script: short for prescription. Heroin addicts are often prescribed a substance called methadone as a heroin alternative as part of weaning them off their addiction. Users will often refer to this as their ‘script’
Scrote: low life
Semi: semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only
Shedload: a large amount
Six bang: a stun grenade
Shoeing: beating
Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way
SIO: senior investigating officer
Sixth-form college: school for high school students in final two years
Skag: often used in full as skaghead, slang for a heroin addict
Skip: a large open container used for building waste
Slapper: slag (offensive)
Smackhead: heroin addict
Snout: police informer
SOCO: scene-of-crime officer
Sod: an annoying person
Solicitor: lawyer
Sort: to do or make
Sparky: electrician
Spook: spy
Squaddie: a soldier of low rank
Stunner: beautiful woman
Super: superintendent (police rank)
Surveyor: someone who examines land and buildings professionally
Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart
Tabloid: newspaper
Tac Team: shorthand for tactical team. UK police forces have a number of tactical teams, these are often six constables and a sergeant and they are specialists in door entry, search, arrest strikes and some may be armed
Tea towel: drying cloth
Tea: dinner (Northern English)
Tesco: huge supermarket chain in the UK.
The sick: on state benefits for mental or physical disability
Thief taker: term of praise for a police officer
Three nines: an emergency call (as in 999)
Till: cash register
Tip: a mess
Tipsy: a bit drunk
Top himself: commit suicide
Torch: flashlight
Totty: attractive woman
Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
Trumpton: derogatory name for the fire service, often used by police
Tutor: university teacher
Upmarket: affluent or fancy
Wacky baccy: cannabis
Wally: silly person
War Cry: Salvation Army magazine
Wash: the washing machine
Water board: company supplying water to an area
White: street name in the UK for crack cocaine. Most street dealers offer both ‘brown and white,’ as it is common that they are used together
White van man: typical working-class man who drives a small truck
Widow’s weeds: black clothes worn by a widow in mourning
Wilco: will comply, i.e. yes
Wine gums: fruity chewy candy
Wool-gathering: daydreaming
WPC: Woman Police Constable (old-fashioned0
Yob: a rude or aggressive youth or person
CHARACTER LIST
(contains spoilers if you haven’t read the first book in the series BODILY HARM and PANIC BUTTON)
George Elms: Joined the police pretty much straight out of school and now in his mid-thirties, he’s been getting in the faces of criminals for over fifteen years. Recently he was embroiled in a terrible incident where Lennokshire Police suffered a number of losses, including two senior officers and the most senior of all — the chief constable. George’s involvement was the subject of a lengthy investigation. He was never prosecuted and remains suspended — in limbo. He is unable to get his job back, or it seems, any part of his previous life.
George’s wife is Sarah, and his young daughter is Charley. He loves them dearly and he’s pretty sure they still love him. Just recently they’ve been living separately while George struggles to cope with the fallout from that terrible night.
Helen Webb: A chief superintendent and at the helm while Lennokshire Police suffered terrible losses. She face a battle on two fronts, keeping a grip over her force and keeping a grip on the criminal fraternity that has established itself on her watch. The truth of what really happened that night would end her career. George Elms knows the truth and Helen knows she must control him too.
Ed Kavski: Ex-soldier, ex-copper – once one of the good guys. Awoke with a sudden realisation that modern day policing is all about perception rather than providing a service to the community. Since this moment, Ed has been using this very fact against them and quickly established himself as the primary supplier of class A drugs to the Langthorne area. His reach and choice of criminality is expanding all the time.
Paul Baern: One of a number of detectives who worked for George Elms. Dragged into that fateful night when George Elms had no one else to trust. In the confusion that followed he was shot by George — damn near killed. He took his time but he has returned to work, although he isn’t able to leave the station and fully expects to be released on medical grounds when a deal can be sorted.
Samantha (Sam) Robins: On George’s team of detectives. An accomplished communicator, a clever detective and probably George’s favourite. Since George’s suspension they have stayed in touch, but it has been sporadic. It hurts for Sam to see someone she once admired to be reduced to a shadow of his former self. She still works out of Langthorne House, but her previous association with George has seen her somewhat isolated. And she couldn’t care less.
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