Police Jargon

20 (10-20) - a current location of a person or item of interest

APB (All-Points Bulletin) - a general bulletin sent to law-enforcement agencies, as one describing a wanted person. 

Asset – an agent.

ATL (Attempt To Locate) - in the case of fugitive, a fax or teletype is circulated through various law enforcement bodies in order to seek out the person in question.

Backstop – an arrangement between two persons for the express purpose of substantiating a cover story or alibi.

BOLO (Be On the LookOut) - similar to an APB; a bulletin, warning or news blurb warning law enforcement and citizens about a wanted person.

Bona Fides - proof of a person's claimed identity.

Burners - a cell phone, laptop or other electronic or wireless device used for a short period of time and thrown away before a trace can be placed on it to determine the location of the user.

Children & Family Services (CFS) - A government agency who acts on behalf of abused and neglected children.

Close to the Vest - Avoid taking unnecessary risks.

Comm. (Communication) - audio device used during surveillance or operations to allow communication to keep the team updated.

Compromised – breached security status.

Cop-Killer - a specialized bullet, often hollow point or armor piercing round designed to penetrate teflon vests and cause maximum damage.

Counterintelligence – activities designed to impede or thwart the efforts of hostile intelligence agencies attempting to penetrate or compromise one's own intelligence agency.

Covert - a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels.

Disavowed - To disclaim knowledge of, responsibility for, or association with.

Double-Agent – simultaneously serves two adversaries (often with their knowledge).

E&E - Evade and Escape

Ears Only - material too secret to commit to writing.

ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival.

Eyes Only - documents that may be read but not discussed.

Floater - a person used one-time, occasionally, or even unknowingly for an intelligence operation.

Frequency Flooding - a technique that allows an ordinary telephone to become a covert listening device.

Friendly - a non hostile unit that coordinates information from one asset to the other.

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GCMS) - is a method that combines the features of gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances within a test sample.

Green - An untrained or inexperienced recruit.

Handler - a case officer who is responsible for handling agents in operations.

Hard Man – an experienced operative who can survive in a hostile environment and who has killed.

Honey Pot (Lady/Raven) – femme fatale; a female agent using romance to compromise a target.

Honey Trap - Slang for use of men or women in sexual situations to intimidate or snare others. This use of sex to trap or blackmail an individual is standard practice in intelligence operations

Hostile - term used to describe the organizations and activities of the opposition services.

Informant – a legitimate member of a target group providing intelligence to the surveillance team.

Jarking – bugging a weapons cache, often rendering weapons unusable.

Keylogger - A software or hardware device or program used to capture the keystrokes any actions of a computer user, often without their knowledge.

LKA - (Last Known Address) - The most recent address available for a person.

Modus Operandi - (M.O. - Mode of Operation) - The pattern of behavior which is typical of how a particular offender commits a specific type of crime.

Naked - a spy operating without cover or backup.

Nightcrawler – a talent spotter who prowls bars and nightclubs looking for government employees, military personnel, etc. who can be compromised using booze, drugs, or sex.

Offensive Penetration Operation – infiltration of an agent into a target group or organization.

Overt Target – deliberately attempts to draw attention and drain the resources of an intelligence agency or security service. Occasionally a decoy.

Paroles - passwords to identify agents to each other.

Perp (Perpetrator) - a person who actually committed a crime.

Plausible Deniability - A condition in which a subject can safely and believeably deny knowledge of any particular truth that may exist because the subject is deliberately made unaware of said truth so as to benefit or shield the subject from any responsibility associated through the knowledge of such truth.

Rogue - an agent that's renegade, turncoat or a defector; no longer obedient, belonging, or accepted and hence not controllable or answerable.

Rolled Up - when an operation goes bad and an agent is arrested.

Sit Rep (Situation Report) - Used to keep a commander or staff updated and advised on the critical information while on a case. (Used for covert ops & surveillance).

Sleeper - an agent placed in an undercover situation and told to await further instructions before beginning to actively engage in espionage activities.

SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) - a written document or instruction detailing all steps and activities of a process or procedure.

Street Agent – an FBI agent whose work takes him to various locations.

Suspect - someone believed to have been intending on committing a crime or having been involved in one.

Target – the victim of surveillance, the subject.

Terminated - murdered.

The Take - information gathered by espionage.

Throwaway - an agent considered expendable.

Trigger – a surveillance operative who is watching the target's vacant vehicle, home, garage, office, restaurant etc. and who alerts the rest of the surveillance team when the target is spotted.

UC (Undercover) - an agent in the field in deep cover.

Unidentified (Unknown) Subject (UnSub) - a person of interest whose identity has yet to be uncovered.

Wet Job (Wet-work/Affair/Splashed) – results in death of target or major bloodshed.

Window Dressing - ancillary materials that are included in a cover story or deception operation to help convince the opposition or other casual observers that what they are observing is genuine.

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