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J Kaufman	Post subject: Today's copspeak Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 10:43 am
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:47 pm Posts: 4655 Location: New York City	Quote: Eighteen people were injured — nine firefighters, four gas company workers, two police officers, a city worker and two civilians. ... [Hartford Courant] Civilian, in English, is anyone not a cop, not a firefighter or not in the armed forces. It includes gas company workers, and those city workers who aren't police or firefighters. Police blotters sometimes use it as a catchall for anyone not on the public payroll. Unless you want to call attention, for some reason, to defining the vast majority in terms of small minorities, or you're showing off your skills in transcribing Police English, avoid it.
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