Swear down, bruv: ‘popo’ officers brush up on language of street
IF THE “popo” want the kids on the street to “swear down” they should take careful note.
Police officers on the Fylde coast in Lancashire have compiled a list of street slang in a bid to teach colleagues how to decipher youth language.
The list, scrawled on a whiteboard, explains that Stormzy is a rapper from Croydon as opposed to being concerned with meteorology.
It states that “beef-ting fam” means “starting an argument” while “peng” means “good/attractive” and “GOAT” stands for greatest of all time.
A photograph of the board was posted on Twitter by a local officer.
“Spotted at a police station somewhere on the Fylde coast,” he wrote. “Never have I ever laughed so hard. Would genuinely be lost in a conversation with youth today.”
The list of translations was spotted by a member of staff on the Reigate and Banstead beat in Surrey and published on its Facebook page, alongside the claim that it was rolling out youth language training to engage with younger residents. It added: “This is totally a joke.” Other translations included “popo” or “feds”, which means “police” and “swear down” or “tell the truth”.
Lancashire Police confirmed the list was on display at its station in St Anne’s but that it was far from a joke. “It’s in place to help the neighbourhood team understand some of the terms and phrases used by teenagers,” it said.
Gangsline, which trains professionals to understand gang mentality, recently highlighted the need for officers to become more “street” to effectively communicate with gang members.