Line of Duty glossary: Everything you need to know about the show’s best-loved acronyms

Mother of God, there’s a lot of acronyms and initialisms to be learned when watching Line of Duty, isn’t there?

With the show’s sixth series reaching its hotly-anticipated climax, fans have spent much of their time Googling the acronyms that Ted, Kate and Steve use on a very regular basis – potentially just to confuse us.

In the gripping first episode, for example, we saw police officers talk a lot about a Chis. Short for a Covert Human Intelligence Source, these individuals – also known as ‘spy cops’ - secretly use relationships to gain information about a person.

Yet that isn’t the only acronym or initialism thrown about by the coppers in the BBC drama, and with a two-year gap since AC-12’s (Anti-Corruption Unit 12) last outing, we could probably all do with a refresher.

So, if OCG and MIT leave you confused, then our detailed list of the hit crime drama’s abbreviations may be able to help.

Here’s the list:

• ABH: Actual Bodily Harm
• AC-12: Anti-Corruption Unit 12
• ACC: Assistant Chief Constable
• ACPO: Association of Chief Police Officers
• AFO: Authorised Firearms Officer
• AM: Active Message
• ANPR: Automatic Number Plate Recognition
• ARU: Authorised Response Unit
• ARV: Armed Response Vehicle
• B&E: Breaking and Entering
• CC: Chief Constable
• Chis: Covert Human Intelligence Source
• CIB: Complaints Investigation Bureau
• CID: Criminal Investigation Department
• CIS: Crime Information System
• Com: Covert Operations Manager
• CPS: Crown Prosecution Service
• CSE: Crime Scene Examiner
• D&D: Drunk and Disorderly
• DC: Detective Constable
• DCC: Deputy Chief Constable
• DCI: Detective Chief Inspector
• DIR: Digital Interview Recorder
• DL: (On the) down low
• DPS: Director of 
• DS: Detective Sergeant
• Fahrenheit: A ‘shoot to kill’ order
• FI: Forensic Investigator
• FLO: Family Liaison Officer
• GBH: Grievous Bodily Harm
• GSW: Gunshot Wound
• HCP: Healthcare Professional
• IC: Identification Code(s)
• IC9: A person’s ethnicity is unknown
• ID: Identification
• IP Address: Internet Protocol address
• IOPC: Independent Office for Police Conduct
• IR: Intelligence Report
• IRV: Incident Response Vehicle
• MIT: Major Investigation Team
• MOPI: Management of Police Information
• MPU: Missing Persons Unit
• MVC: Major Violent Crime
• Nabis: National Ballistics Intelligence Service
• Obs: Observation
• OCG: Organised Crime Group
• Pace: Police and Criminal Evidence Act
• PCC: Police and Crime Commissioner
• PCSO: Police Community Support Officer
• PNC: Police National Computer
• PS: Police Sergeant
• Reg 15: A notice issued to an officer advising them that a complaint about their conduct that warrants investigation
• Ripa: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
• RTC: Road Traffic Collision
• SCG: Serious Crime Group
• SFC: Strategic Firearms Command
• Sit Rep: Situation Report
• SIO: Senior Investigating Officer
• TA: Time of Arrival
• TFC: Tactical Firearms Commander
• TFU: Tactical Firearms Unit
• TSG: Territorial Support Group
• Twoc: Taking Without Owner’s Consent
• UCO: Undercover Operative
• VO: Visiting Order
• VPN: Virtual Private Network
• VRN: Vehicle Registration Number

It isn’t just acronyms and initialisms which can leave Line of Duty fans scratching their heads, either.

For those wondering what the status codes mean, status zero translates to an officer needing urgent assistance, status five means an officer is en-route to an incident, while status six means they’ve arrived at the scene.

Ten-eight is used when an officer is in service, while status 11 is used when they are off duty.

As for the Osman warning, which Kate mentions at one point during the series, that concerns a warning which police issue civilians when they are aware of a threat to their life.

With another series now underway, it’s likely that we’ll have even more phrases, codenames and more to add to the above list.

The final episode of Line of Duty , season six, airs Sunday, 9pm, on BBC One.

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