# 12

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Police or law enforcement, collectively.

## Etymology
Of uncertain origin. Widespread use of the phrase as an anti-police slogan grew following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
* Possibly from 1312, an alternative form of ACAB (“all cops are bastards”) in which the letters are substituted with their position in the alphabet.
* Alternatively, from the American police procedural television series Adam-12 (1968–1975), in which 1-Adam-12 refers to a patrol unit and its radio call sign.
Likely popularized by "F*ck 12", a song by American hip-hop group Migos from their 2013 mixtape Y.R.N. (Young Rich Niggas), which uses 12 in reference to the police while describing a narcotics raid: “12 kickin' in my front door […] 12 in my home, they won't leave me alone”.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/12