Following the release of The Stockman’s Series here is a list of slang terms for Outback Police with their brief explanations.

Common Slang Terms for Outback Police:

We’ll start with the obvious nickname such as their rank:

• Constable
• The Constabulary
• Blue Heeler: this was based on the popular Aussie cop show Blue Heelers which started in 1993 and ran for 13 seasons.
• Boys in Blue: (See below)
• Park Rangers / Boy Scouts: this was before they changed to blue uniforms, and used to wear khaki, the same colour as park rangers.
• Blue Light Special: based on the blue lights when you get flashed.
• The long arm (strong arm) of the law. Which made a huge splash in XMAS DUST!
• Cops, Coppers or Coppas: There is a song based on the copper found in the old two-cent coins. If you know, you know.
• And some have extended this term to Grasshoppers.
• Wallopers: for those truncheons swinging beat cops back in Australia’s 19th Century.
• Traffic Nazis: nicknamed by other police officers, these are the ticket-sharing, speed-camera-waving traffic police.
• GD’s: General Duties, the beat cops that wear the uniform and are generally the first to arrive on the scene.
• Occifer / Ossifer:  mostly favoured by intoxicated clientele and those who love Cheech and Chong.
• Fuzz: We can blame the funny movie Hot Fuzz for this one.
• Poh-Poh, Popo, Po-Po 
• Poh-lees / Po-lice

Slang Terms for Outback Police Duties:

As the outback police, such as those found in the Elsie Creek Series, patrol such enormous areas, they multi-task for various jobs. These small-town police do driving tests, as seen in CAKED IN DUST. They attend community events in unusual ways, such as using their speed cameras for sporting events as in DIAMOND IN THE DUST, or for testing out the speed of a muster dog in STOCKMAN’S STOWAWAY.

They also have other duties with nicknames, such as:

• Water Rat – thanks to another police television show based on the water police, but also seen in BUFFALO DUST.
• Heavy’s / Scaley’s: are the heavy haulage transport inspectors. The Outback police check the weight and conditions of all vehicles, including road trains and other heavy vehicles, trucks, etc as they patrol the highway. Not only do they perform roadworthy tests and vehicle registrations, but outback police also give police escorts for large mining machinery that block off highways as mentioned in WRITTEN IN DUST.
• Animal Rescuer: they find stray animals, muster cattle, and try to return the odd stray water buffalo to their small town.
• Blue Light Disco DJ: These are police-run, alcohol-free dances that were the highlight of our regional school calendar.

The Other Slang Terms for Outback Police Duties:

In some Australian states, they have special squads for the following police duties. In the small town of Elsie Creek, the outback cops may do all of them or call in the teams:

• Stock cop / Cattle cop: those who specialise in stolen stock
• Gold Squad: police who focus on mining incidents
• Dees: Detectives
• Welfare: delivering babies as found in Stockman’s Sandstorm!
• Feds: AFP – Australian Federal Police
• TRG: Tactical Response Group, the Northern Territory Term for SWAT. Aka Storm Troopers: riot police.

via GIPHY

Slang Terms for Outback Police Vehicles:

I had to explain to my editor, when writing STOCKMAN’S STOWAWAY, that the Northern Territory police vans aren’t closed-off cages. This is because of our extreme heat, and the overpowering aroma of someone working within the extreme outback heat. Which is a nice way to the unsavoury scent of perspiration.

These police vehicles are canvas-covered cages to protect their occupants from the heat and sun when transported by the police.

And these vehicles have their list of slang terms:

• Paddy Wagon
• Divvy Van
• Meat wagon
• Chuck wagon
• Party Van
• Blue Light Taxi (My favourite)
• Booze Bus: This is for random roadside testing (RBT), where large groups of vehicles are pulled over to be breath tested for alcohol. If shown a higher reading, you park your car and sit on the bus to get retested. These RBT units are out in force during the Xmas silly season.

The Outback Slang Terms for Getting Arrested:

When you get arrested, you’ll hear it described in the pub as getting:

• Nicked
• Slapped
• Booked
• Pinched
• Busted

And the outback coppers I’m referring to:

Two regular police officers frequent my stories and this is a list of their nicknames and where you can find them in the books, so far…

Detective Senior Sergeant Marcus Moore:

Marcus has been fondly nicknamed by the locals as

• the town’s top cop
• The strong arm of the law
• Sarge / Sergeant

He is also a regular character in the Elsie Creek Series, and is found in the following books:

• Diamond in the Dust
• Caked in Dust
• Xmas Dust
• Muster in the Dust
• Rolled in Dust
• Written in Dust — This is Marcus’s story.
• Cameos in THE STOCKMEN SERIES

Constable Porter

Porter is known as Policeman Porter. As a regular character, we’ve practically watched him grow up on the page, where he’s had his heart broken, risked his job, and his life, he deserves his own book. What do you think?

In the meantime, you can find Police Porter in the following books:

• Written in Dust
• Doctoring Dust
• Buffalo Dust
• Stockman’s Sandstorm
• Stockman’s Stowaway
• Stockman’s Stormcloud
• Stockman’s Showdown

Positive Outback Policing Experience:

If you’re looking for a positive experience with small-town police, check out these good guys in Elsie Creek World found in:

• Elsie Creek Series
• The Stockmen Series.

Happy Reading.

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