rent-a-cop
English edit
Etymology edit
From rent + a + cop, modelled after the brand name Rent-a-Car.
Noun edit
rent-a-cop (plural rent-a-cops)
- (colloquial, derogatory) A private security guard, usually one regarded as inferior to and less skilled than a true law enforcement officer.
- 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 24:
- “What got into you tonight? Why'd you pull that scene at the arcade? I had to mess up this rentacop[sic] came after me with nunchucks.”