1. The person is acting suspiciously or abnormally.
   The person is crazy and unstable.
2. The person looks nauseated and may vomit.
   The person look like they may pass out.

The origins for the word "hinky" are old, possibly from the old Scots word "hink," which means "to hobble or limp." Either way, it's a way to describe someone's unusual behavior that causes police officers' concern.

1. A robbery suspect fleeing a bank
   A suspect is in a car chase
2. A suspect abandons their car and flees on foot
   A suspect bails out of jail

"Bailing in/bailing out" may sound like a banking term, which it is. But for cops, it's when someone they're pursuing ditches their car and tries to run way on foot.

1. Bring gold coins to the local precinct for bail
   Take a urine test
2. Drink orange juice
   Be at the police station by sunrise

Another euphemism by law enforcement, "golden flow" refers to taking a urine test for drugs. This can be a random drug screen or a planned one.

1. An ambulance
   A fire truck
2. Someone tailgating you
   The blue and red lights of a police car

Although you should possibly pull over for a fire truck or an ambulance, it's not necessary if they don't have their flashing lights or aren't using their sirens. Sometimes, police cars only have their cherries (the red lights), but "berries & cherries" refers to the blue (berries) and red (cherries) lights on top of their patrol vehicles.

1. Keys or tools to pick a car ignition lock
   An extra set of house keys
2. Keys for a sticky door in your home or at work
   Keys to your partner's house

In the age of keyless ignition, "jiggle keys," also known as "master keys" or "jigglers," really have no use. But back in the 1980s and 1990s, getting keys made from fingernail files or creating shaved keys (grooves ground down, making the key look really thin) made it easier for car thieves to steal popular cars from car makers such as Saturn (RIP), Toyota and Honda.

1. A type of sushi
   A rolling stop
2. Making a U-turn
   When an SUV rolls over

Also known as a "California stop," a "California roll" means you haven't come to a full and complete stop at a stop sign. This means your speedometer needs to be at zero. Although it's not entirely clear where this saying came from, one of the most common traffic violations is failing to stop at stop signs and red lights.

1. A shelter
   Jail
2. A hotel
   Court

Cops have many euphemisms and sayings for jail or prison. Whether it's called "The Pokey," "The Cross Bar Hotel," "The Gray Bar Hotel" or "The Gray Door Hotel," it's a place where people who've been arrested go next.

1. Someone who is extremely chatty
   Someone who is violent and intoxicated
2. Someone who makes verbal threats against the police
   Someone who is experiencing a seizure

Officially, the term is "violent intox." It's one thing to be inebriated, but it's another if you get angry or violent, too. If someone is a "vox," a cop may need backup to handle this person.

1. Filthy bathrooms
   Dirty houses
2. Bad guys
   Dirty bags

There are plenty of other names for perpetrators, some of which we can't write here. But some other common names for the bad guys: "maggot," "scumbag," "mutt," "skell" and "hooftie."

1. A radar gun
   A perp on the run
2. A speeder
   A child

The chase, the pursuit—it's a part of so many cop movies and shows. And who gives chase is the "rabbit"—the suspect or perp on the run from the police.

1. Handcuffs
   A police baton
2. A taser
   A police whistle

It's another euphemism from law enforcement officers. It's probably the only kind of jewelry you'll always want to avoid.

1. They're running into oncoming traffic.
   They're intoxicated.
2. They're mentally unstable.
   They're gone/on the run.

"In the wind" mainly applies to people who have an active warrant and will be arrested. Another term for this is GOA (gone on arrival).

1. Speeding
   Failing to stop at a stop sign
2. DUI
   Tailgating

"Deuce" (DUI is an acronym for driving under the influence) has its origins in California law enforcement agencies. A "super deuce" is known as a felony DUI. A "D-Dub" is a DWI (driving while intoxicated).

1. Serve an arrest warrant, arrest suspect
   Come to someone's home to talk
2. Knock on someone's door, and if it's open, lock it for them
   Knock on the window of a driver and tell them to lock their car because of police activity in the area

This rhyming euphemism is one of the common activities cops have to do. "Knock" means going to someone's home and literally knocking on the door. "Lock" refers to locking someone up in jail.

1. Making sure to get off at six p.m. every night
   Keeping your hand on your gun
2. Watch your back
   Working first shift

"Keepin' six" is for six o'clock. If you've ever heard people talk about looking at people or things at a certain position on the clock (e.g., suspect, 12 o'clock), then you know this is about where things are in relation to your body and its surroundings. Six o'clock refers to one's back, since that's where the hour hand would be in relation to one's body.

1. Six police officers together to make an arrest
   What cops drink off-duty
2. Six patrol cars
   The photo lineup of six suspects

This "six pack" has nothing to do with drinking beers or someone's physical fitness. It's to help eyewitnesses or victims identify someone who has committed a crime.

1. A 9mm handgun
   A megaphone
2. A PA system in your patrol car
   Nine cops named Mike in your squad

Another euphemism from cops, Nine Mike Mike comes from the NATO phonetic alphabet, where M stands for Mike. You can use Mike Mike for any weapon's caliber.

1. Warrants
   Writing a report
2. Confiscated money
   Replacing the toilet paper at work

If you're "writing paper," then you're writing a report. "Paper" can also mean someone who is on parole or probation. Depending on the context, "paper" can mean different things.

1. Someone gawking at an accident
   A nosy, gossipy neighbor
2. Someone who listens to police scanners
   Someone who stares down cops as they pass by

Being a "looky loo" is so tempting as a driving because you want to know what's going on and see how bad the accident was. But it also means you're probably not looking where you're going and could cause another accident.

1. A motorcyclist riding without a helmet
   A motorist speeding
2. Someone driving too slowly
   A pedestrian

This is one of the sardonic but honest slang terms about motorcyclists. Head injuries are one of the most common injuries that motorcyclists face while riding, especially without a helmet.

1. Parallel parking
   Flashing their badge
2. Flashing their high-beams
   Going golfing

The "tin" is the badge, and tinning means flashing your badge. That could be when you're talking to a person of interest, a suspect or just someone you need to talk to. You can also "tin to get in," meaning you flash your badge at the door of a bar or club so you can get in for free.

1. To give a traffic citation or ticket
   To arrest you
2. To serve a warrant
   To flash lights at you

No one likes getting a ticket, for whatever reason. And the slang for this term is pretty straightforward, but it is very different from "paper hanging" or being a "paper hanger."

1. Actual choir practice for a police chorus
   Going to a music venue
2. Heading home
   Hanging out after work

"Choir practice" is based off of the famous cop novel "The Choirboys" by former cop Joseph Wambaugh. These days, "choir practice" just means hanging out while off-duty to decompress and have fun, whether it's at a bar or not.

1. You're putting in your resignation.
   You're writing about an unfortunate situation you caused.
2. You're asking for a raise.
   You're telling the chief all the things they're doing wrong.

The "Dear Chief" letter is definitely not a fun one to write. To explain what went on in a messy situation you carelessly caused is probably the last thing you want to do as a cop.

1. A rookie who make a lot of mistakes
   A rookie who gets fired in under a year
2. A rookie who gets promoted within a year
   A rookie who is very eager to take answer radio calls

A blue flamer can understandably be obnoxious or annoying. Their eagerness to do police work may be a bit over the top.

1. Using drugs intravenously
   A new kind of stunt, similar to parkour
2. Slang for car theft
   Another word for "dining and dashing"

As a slang word, "slamming" means a lot of different things outside of the law enforcement world. But "slamming" for cops means injecting drugs (such as heroin) via hypodermic needles.

1. Idiot
   ID not found
2. I'm directing traffic.
   I don't think so.

LEOs use a lot of colorful language in code—with acronyms and with the NATO phonetic alphabet. "1 Delta 10 Tango" has the numbers acting as vowels, with the 1s as the Is and the zero acting as the letter O.

1. A meter maid
   A patrol cop
2. Someone who has passed out face down
   A traffic cop

Many times, cops are dealing with drunk people of all sorts. "Sidewalk inspector" is a euphemism for someone who has passed out face down. It's similar to another slang term, "lawn ornament."

1. Arresting a suspect
   Playing "good cop/bad cop" during an interrogation
2. Providing back-up on a stakeout
   Another name for being partners

The origins of "Mutt 'n' Jeff" go back to early 20th-century U.K., from a comic strip of the same name. It's also meant to talk about two people who are wildly different.

1. A lollipop
   A kind of flashlight
2. Portable flashing light
   Hazard lights

Who loves you, baby? This flashing light is for unmarked cop cars, so when they need to pursue a suspect or get to some place fast, they throw up the "Kojak light." This was taken from the old cop show, "Kojak."

1. The mouthpiece you blow into for a BAC test
   An elderly female driver
2. What's used to swab crime scenes
   A regular q-tip

As we age, we can begin to become shorter. And the term "Q-tip" takes that into account, because it's the image of only being able to see white hair from the rear of a vehicle, like a big cotton ball. And that's usually because elderly women are sitting low in their seats.

1. Finely tuned RADAR
   Fake RADAR
2. Flying RADAR (aerial surveillance)
   Fast RADAR

If you're speeding on the highway and see a cop with his radar gun out, you may or may not be getting scanned. But seeing a cop with a radar causes you to slow down, right? So then it becomes a deterrent for speeders.

1. Someone who writes fraudulent checks
   A person stuck on desk duty
2. A cop who writes up a lot of tickets and citations
   A supervisor who often writes people up for small infractions

The term "paper hanging" comes from the time period when a check clears—the float. So a paper hanger uses the float to write fraudulent checks and withdraw funds when they're made available—and then ditch the account once the bank realizes the checks are bad.

1. A baby's bib you buy at homecoming
   Another name for a prison jumpsuit
2. What cops wear over their uniforms while eating
   A garbage bag tied around the neck of someone who is drunk

Dealing with intoxicated people can mean unintended contact with body fluids. So tying a garbage bag or biohazard bag around a drunk person's neck can keep one's patrol car (and the suspect) clean. This is the same idea behind a "backseat diaper," which is a garbage bag placed in the back seat of a patrol car just in case someone soils themselves.

1. Stolen vehicle
   Stolen identity
2. Stolen loot
   Stoli vodka

"Stolo" means "stolen car." This slang term seems to be used by those on the other side of the law, too. If you're "rollin' stolen," then you're driving a stolen car.