The Language of COPS
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Data
Data for this report were obtained from viewing several segments of the
program COPS aired in Baltimore on Saturday and on Sunday evenings. These
episodes, usually of an hour’s duration, represent segments of the program taped
in various cities of various sizes across the nation. I used thirty episodes of the
program from which to draw conclusions about the forms of language used by
officers in encountering individuals thought to be involved in illegal activities.
Coding Procedure
In observing the program, I was interested to determine the variables that
influence the choice of language heard and used by officers in COPS. I
hypothesize that the most salient variables that influenced the type of language
used by officers were type of crime, length of employment, and gender. On the
other hand, having listened to several episodes of the program, I established three
linguistic categories of language used: statements, questions, and commands.4 To
claim that a specific language form belonged to a specific category, I noticed its
linguistic structure with respect to the arrangement of units in the utterance.
Commands, for example, were of the form of a verb with or without a noun.
Thus, the expressions 'Hands up” or “Put your hands up” would constitute a
command. Questions, on the o F