; Paco: A derogatory Chilean term for
Carabineros, the national military police force of Chile. In Costa Rica, a familiar term for police, loosely derogatory. The term comes from the nickname "Paco" given to
Francisco Calderón Guardia, a Security Minister in the 1940s. ; Paddy wagon: A
police van. So named in Liverpool, UK as most of the policemen and prisoners were of Irish extraction. ;
Panda car: UK, a police car. Named because they were originally painted with large panels of black and white, or blue (usually light blue) and white. First started by the Lancashire Constabulary in the 1960s. Original Panda cars were the same model of car bought by two adjacent forces – the one in black and the other in white. The doors were then swapped between vehicles giving all the two-tone colour scheme one way round or the other. Bonnets (hoods) could also be swapped. Unclear if boot (trunk) lids were swapped. Not all fitted with a blue beacon. Some fitted with a large box-shaped roof sign "police" with the blue beacon on top (or not). Many were
Morris 1000, Austin Morris Minis or 1100s.
Ford Anglias and later Escorts also used by some forces. Colour scheme later changed to blue (usually light blue) with white doors – or, again, the reverse – light blue with white doors. ; Pandu:
Marathi, derogatory, पांडू. Used chiefly in
Mumbai. This slang for policemen, especially
hawaladars, ("Havāladāra", meaning constable in Marathi) came to be from the 1975
Dada Kondke film
Pandu Hawaldar. ; Panduri: Serbo-Croatian, slang for a group of police officers. The meaning derived from the Latin word
banderium, in which the word banderia also came from. They were military units created by Hungarian nobles in the 15th century, as well as light military border units composed of Croats, Hungarians, Romanians, and Serbs during the Ottoman Empire. Nowadays, it is used in Serbia (and parts of Bosnia, Croatia, and Montenegro) in a derogatory manner.Пандур ; Panier à salade: French, lit. "salad basket", slang for a police van (cf.
fourgon de police). ; Parak: Slang term used for policemen in the Philippines. ; Paw Patrol: Slang term for
K-9 units or Dog Units in the UK. ; Party Van: Russian, a police car or van, especially one housing an entire squad and sent out to perform a search-and-seizure and/or an arrest at a specific site. Hints at the party of police officers that it holds and/or the "party" it will "throw" at its destination. ; Pasma: Derogatory term used in Spain to refer to the police in general. The singular form is "Pasmuti". ; Peeler: Used in the UK and Ireland, however it is generally considered archaic. Derived from
Sir Robert Peel (see "Bobby"). ; Perp: Perpetrator/criminal instigator. ; Peterwagen: (German for "Peter car") colloquial for a
Hamburg Police car. ; Pharaoh: Russian, old-fashioned. Allegedly refers to Tsarist city policemen and passage guards standing still and emotionlessly on their posts, paying no attention to the bustling of the city around them. In older times, they were also armed with poleaxes or clubs that they were stereotypically holding like a sceptre. ; Picoleto: In
Spain it's a term used to refer to
Guardia Civil. The term originates from "pico", meaning "spike" or "horn", referring to the
tricorne worn by the members of Guardia Civil during most of its existence and still used nowadays in formal uniform. ; Piedipiatti: Slang term used commonly in Italy to describe all kinds of police officers. Lit.
flat feet. ; Pies: Slang term used commonly in Poland to describe all kinds of police officers. 'Pies' means a dog in Polish and is understood to compare police activity to that of dogs, i.e. sniffing around etc. Highly derogatory, not used in any official circumstances. ; : This derogatory term was frequently used during the 19th century, disappeared for a while, but reappeared during the 20th and 21st century. It became frequently used again during the 1960s and 1970s in the underground and
anti-establishment culture. The adult cartoon
Fritz the Cat (1972) portrayed the police as pigs, adding to the popularity of the term. It is now prevalent in many English-speaking countries. It is also used in anti-authority
punk,
goth,
metalhead,
biker,
mobster and
hip-hop circles.
Oz magazine showed a picture of a pig dressed as a policeman on a front cover and the term inspired "pig cops" in the video game
Duke Nukem 3D. ; Pig Pen: Cop shop, i.e., police station. ; Pinched: To be arrested (American slang). ; Pikachu: In Vietnam, this word refers to traffic police, who wear yellow suits and therefore resemble the Pokémon
Pikachu. ; Piolín: Derogatory term used in Spain to refer to a member of
Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, named after
Tweety (in Spanish Piolín). The term was coined after the arrival of the National Police in Barcelona on a ferry decorated with
Looney Tunes characters. The term was also used in the Spanish congress by the Spanish prime minister
Pedro Sánchez. ; Pitufo: Slang, sometimes derogatory or vulgar, literally meaning "
Smurf". Spanish slang referring to a member of
Cuerpo Nacional de Policía. Originated in the 1980s when police uniforms were changed from brown to blue in 1986. ; Plastic Policeman: UK slang term for
Police Community Support Officers. ; Placa: Mexican slang for police officer. ; Plod, PC Plod or Plodder:Slang, UK and Australia. An allusion to
Mr. Plod the Policeman in
Enid Blyton's
Noddy stories for children, to plod meaning to walk doggedly and slowly with heavy steps. ; Plot: To Plot up, Abbreviation of the term 'Park up and Look Out for Target'. ; Polda: Czech slang for police officer. Originated as short of word "policista" – Czech term for policeman. ; Po-lé: Indonesian term for
Indonesian Police, popular amongst young students and streetboys in Jakarta and used to warn their friends during illegal streetrace or under-age riding. ; Polente: Slang for the police in
German, slightly derogatory. ; Poli, polis (plural): Spanish slang for police (abbreviation of
policía). ; Polis: Scottish slang for police (not to be confused with the exaggerated US pronunciation 'po-leece'). Once common in Ireland but rarely heard today except in a jocular sense. ; Polyp, polypen (plural): Slang for police officers in Germany. ; Ponda: Slang for policemen in
Kashmir region of
Jammu & Kashmir,
India. It is said to have derived from the British
Pound sterling, insinuating that the police are susceptible to bribery. ; Pony Soldier: Royal Canadian Mounted Police. ; Porkchop: Variation on Pig. ; Po-po, Popo, Popos, PoPo: A derogatory street term for police. Originally from Southern California, where bicycle police, beginning in the 1980s, wore T-shirts marked 'PO', for 'police officer', in
block letters. As these officers rode in pairs, their shirts would read 'POPO' when side by side. Yelled out by children to warn a neighborhood that police are in the area. term is used in the UK ; Poulet: French derogatory slang for police (literally "chicken"), similar to American English "pig". ; Pretty Police: Obsolete term used to describe officers deployed in men's toilets to lure homosexual men into a
honey trap (source
Call the Midwife). ; Probinsyano: Another slang term used for policemen in the Philippines due to the famous TV show
Ang Probinsyano. ; Puerco: Hispanic derogatory slang for police (literally "pig"). ; Purken: Norwegian slang for the police (literally "the sow"). ==Q==