38 police and criminology glossaries

City of London Police – A downloadable 15 page glossary of police abbreviations and their meaning.

Wikipedia – There’s a long list of slang terms which are rarely used by officers, but often used by criminals, prisoners or the general public. Here is a list of police-relate slang terms from Wikipedia.

Metropolitan Police – An encompassing list of acronyms and what they stand for, from the Metropolitan Police Service.

Sinai – A website dedicated to police slang and codes, organised into categories: words, radio codes, crime codes, etc.

Translation Directory – Slang terms for police officers: what they’re called by the general public, criminals, and words use to refer to related organisations.

MundoTopia – A handy list of commonly used police abbreviations and police terminology, organised alphabetically.

District of Columbia – A useful 13 page downloadable guide of commonly used police terms and their definitions.

Northamptonshire Police – This glossary of police related acronyms and abbreviations you are likely to come across, was created to help you interpret and translate anything pertaining to this domain.

About – A jargon buster glossary of police terms, acronyms and jargon you’ve heard or read.

Western Australia Police – Yet another glossary of police terminology, specific to the Australian Police, but might very well apply to any other region as well.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary – Browse through a list of definitions of terms and acronyms used by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

McGraw Hill – From McGraw Hill, a glossary of terminology used by or related to police in America.

Lee Lofland – Police officers have their own language, and sometimes it might be hard to understand. This website aims to help you understand the language of police and general cop slang.

Slang Search – The terms used when talking about and related to crime differ from your everyday language. Browse this great resource of crime slang which also contains examples and explanations of idioms.

Afentis Forensics – Forensics is a popular type of investigation services, and this website focuses on specific terminology: a forensic glossary, terms, definitions and case law.

Oracle – A handy glossary of forensic science, for those who aren’t yet familiar with such terminology.

Forensic Science Central – Yet another website which focuses on forensic science, as the name suggests. This forensic science glossary contains terms and acronyms and their definitions.

Chemeketa College – Over 30 pages of terminology related to criminology – theories, patterns and typology.

About – From About.com, a criminal justice glossary. Learn the terms used by those who work in the field of criminology.

Oxford University Press – A reliable resource for those interested in criminology. From ‘abolitionism’ to ‘white collar crime’.

Pearson Higher Education – An alphabetically-organised glossary of comprehensive criminal justice terminology. All you need to know right here.

Criminology – Theory, Research and Policy – An excellent resource which focuses on criminology: equipped with a handy search button, you can browse through numerous terms and definitions.

Robert Buckmaster – A simple, downloadable, one page document on police and criminal slang. These words and phrases are used by police officers and criminals in the UK.

Termsearch – An excellent resource: a trilingual glossary on transnational organised crime, from English to French and to Russian.

Miskatonic University Press – Confused by the hardboiled slang you need translated? This glossary entitled ‘Twists, slug and roscoes: a glossary of hardboiled slang’ will most definitely lend a helping hand.

PBS – Glossary of the Russian comrade criminal: a bilingual glossary of Russian terms related to crime.

MentalFloss – You want to sound like a tough guy? Then here’s 50 prison slang words to help you with that.

Slate – For anyone and everyone interested: 19th century rogue’s vocabulary, or criminal slang that’s ripe for revival.

English Club – Another resource for crime slang: 41 crime slang words defined and explained.

Maledicta Press – Is your shylock threatening to do a piece of work because you haven’t paid your vig, and you don’t know what he’s talking about? Then here’s a guide for you: a mobspeak glossary!

Edmund Metheny and Sophie Lagacé’s Web Site – A guide to British slang of the lower class and the underworld, from the 19th century: from ‘abbess’ to ‘yennap’.

Classic Crime Fiction – Crime fiction can often have some confusing terminology. To help you with those translations, we’re giving you a hard boiled slang dictionary, a glossary of slang terms in mystery and detective fiction.

The American Mafia – The American mafia has a unique lexicon with slang terms that have been building up for over a century. Here is a collection of American mafia-related slang.

Inside Prison – Prisoners develop their own language, and if you can’t understand them, you’ve got this handy glossary of prison slang: terms, meanings and popular phrases.

Street Gang Slang – Prison slang has existed as long as there have been crime and prisons. Understand what they’re talking about with this helpful glossary.

Your Dictionary – Whether you’re planning a flapper party, want to get more out of old gangster movies, or are just up for a laugh, this 20s gangster slang glossary is what you need.

SGINC31 – Another great source for gangster slang, terms and terminology defined.

A Prisoner’s Dictionary – The language of prison is ever-changing, but this glossary tries to encompass terms from various states, it also includes Spanish terms (marked accordingly). A very handy resource