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"Contempt of cop" is U.S. law enforcement jargon for perceived disrespect by citizens towards police officers. The term is most often used in connection with police misconduct in reaction to such disrespect, i.e., arrest or police violence solely as a reaction to the disrespect, rather than for any legitimate law enforcement purpose. Because of the possibility (and supposed frequency) of such reactions, it has become something of a cliché to sardonically refer to "contempt of cop" as the worst possible street crime.

Officers so inclined may react with such misconduct to any perceived challenge to their authority, including a lack of deference, disobeying instructions, flight from the police or expressing interest in filing a complaint against the officer. Offences such as the "trilogy" of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assaulting an officer may be cited as official reasons for a "contempt of cop" arrest.

The term is derived by analogy from "contempt of court", which unlike "contempt of cop" is an offence in many jurisdictions. It was already in use by the 1960s. It has also been referred to as "flunking the attitude test" and as a form of "interactional discrimination" (i.e., discrimination against people more likely to "talk back" to the police, such as young black men in the U.S.).

Jon Shane, who spent 17 years as a police officer in Newark, New Jersey and is now a professor of criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice who specializes in police policy and practice, while commenting on the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, described "contempt of cop" to Time magazine as follows:

In contempt of court, you get loud and abusive in a courtroom, and it's against the law. With contempt of cop, you get loud and nasty and show scorn for a law enforcement officer, but a police officer can't go out and lock you up for disorderly conduct because you were disrespectful toward them.... You could tell them to go f--k themselves and that's fine.

References

• Baruch, Rhoda (2007). Creative Anger: Putting That Powerful Emotion to Good Use. Praeger. ISBN 0275998746. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Cashmore, Ellis (1991). Out of Order?: Policing Black People. ISBN 0415037263.
• Coady, C. A. J. (2000). Violence and Police Culture. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0522847889. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Coleman, Clive (2000). Introducing criminology. Willan. ISBN 1903240093. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Collins, Allyson (1998). Shielded From Justice: Police Brutality And Accountability In The United States. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1564321835.
• Lawrence, Regina G. (2000). The politics of force. University of California Press. ISBN 0520221923.
• Shapiro, Steven R. Human rights violations in the United States: A Report on U.S. Compliance With the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1-56432-122-3.
• Steverson, Leonard A. (2007). Policing in America: A Reference Handboo. ABC-Clio. ISBN 1598840436.
• Walker, Samuel (2005). The new world of police accountability. Sage. ISBN 1412909449.

Footnotes

1. Baruch et al., 140.
2. Walker, 55.
3. Steverson, 300.
4. ^ Lawrence, 48.
5. Walker, 52.
6. ^ Collins, 51.
7. See, e.g., Jeffrey Goldberg reviewing New York's Finest in the September 17, 2000 New York Times: " was simply giving voice to one of the immutable beliefs of the New York City police officer, that "contempt-of-cop", as it is called, is the worst crime of all"; Coady et al. at 94: "Those who defy or challenge police authority are punished for failing the 'attitude test' and committing the worst crime of all—'contempt of cop'"; or Barbara Seranella's novel No Man Standing (2003), at 18: "It was more of a power thing, daring you to commit the worst offense: Contempt of Cop."
8. Shapiro, 119.
9. Walker, 153.
10. Cashmore, 180.
11. Coleman, 136.
12. Rochman, Bonnie (2009-07-26). "The Gates Case: When Disorderly Conduct is a Cop's Judgment Call". TIME. Retrieved 2009-07-26. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

• Police misconduct