Glossary for The Devonshire Crime Thrillers

Terms used by the British Police

The Devonshire Crime Thrillers are set in England in the 90s, and I hope this list of terms will help any readers not familiar with them.

This is not an exhaustive list of police terms and slang, but I plan to expand it.

The first Devonshire Crime Thriller is Lawful Duty

If you’re a fan of British cop stories, hunt for it online

Glossary

CID - Criminal Investigation Department, i.e. plainclothes detectives.

CPS – Crown Prosecution Service – they assess evidence and assess whether a charge has a reasonable chance of successful prosecution.

Guv or guv’nor - a senior police officer, in these stories, Detective Superintendent John Chisholm claims that title for his own.

HOLMES - Home Office Large Major Enquiry System.

Nick - police station.

PM – Post-Mortem Examination which will be carried out by a forensic pathologist.

PNC – Police National Computer.

Skip or Skipper - a sergeant.

SOCO - Scene of Crime Officer (The term CSI wasn’t current in the the UK in the 90s).

Police Ranks

In the UK, becoming a detective is a sideways move rather than a promotion, so a detective constable and a uniformed constable have the same rank. The same applies to all the ranks whether in uniform or CID.

Senior Officers

Chief Constable (CC)

Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Henry Goodrington

Note: The CC and ACC are uniformed officers.

In CID (Criminal Investigation Department), plainclothes detectives

Detective Chief Superintendent (DCS)

Detective Superintendent (DSU)

Detective Chief Inspector (DCI)

Detective Inspector (DI)

Detective Sergeant (DS)

Detective Constable (DC)

Uniformed Officers – in my books, CID often refer to them as ‘uniform’

Chief Superintendent

Superintendent

Sergeant

Police Constable (PC)

Woman Police Constable (WPC)

In the 90s, inequality still existed in police forces, and WPCs were sometimes expected to fulfil supporting roles. The rank of WPC was eventually phased out, but the pace of change depended on the force.

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I intend to add more terms to the list as I go on, so if there’s something you’d like me to add, please let me know.

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