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It is grammatical to use plural verb with police or the police. But when we say Delhi Police, London Police, California Police, etc., why do we use singular verb? I've seen this so many times in news.

Delhi Police asks motorists to avoid Connaught Place...

Delhi Police has registered two cases...

Also the initial letter of Police is capitalized in this case. Why?

Community
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Gurpreet
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    Also check “police are” or “police is” – user3169 May 25 '15 at 16:58
  • @user3169 Possibly because the duplicate comment happens when you cast a vote to close as duplicate, as opposed to just flagging as you did. (I say "possibly" because I don't know whether that's the way it works or not, but it could well be.) – starsplusplus May 25 '15 at 19:52
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    I disagree that this is a duplicate. Police here is being used as part of a proper noun (Delhi Police), which is different to the linked question, which is talking about its use as a common or collective noun. – starsplusplus May 25 '15 at 19:59
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    THIS IS NOT A DUPLICATE - these close voters are lazy!! :( Bad close voters, bad, bad :( Close these close voters ;) – Araucaria - Not here any more. May 26 '15 at 12:25
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    @Adam But the question about singularity/plurality in the OP's type of example is not answered in the linked-to question. As the OP says, there are lots of instances out there in published books and magazines of Delhi Police/police is**. That's the point of this question. The usage seems at first glance to contradict the answers on that post. The OP says as much in their question! :-) – Araucaria - Not here any more. May 26 '15 at 13:28
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    @Araucaria I've reread the offered options and you and starsplusplus are both right (and I'm sorry I voted to close hastily, I thought that the answer about a 'police department' in the question suggested in the comments resolves the issue, but it doesn't specifically mention proper nouns - please don't close me :-)). I hereby apologize to the OP. – Lucky May 26 '15 at 14:59
  • @Araucaria Should it be Philadelphia Police is ... or Philadelphia Police are ... or Philadelphia police is ... or Philadelphia police are ...? I think I don't get that in the answer you upvoted below. – Damkerng T. May 26 '15 at 16:05
  • @Araucaria By the way, I don't know if Philadelphia will make the usage any different from Delhi Police/police. But if it's always are, I think this question is a duplicate. (I think I didn't vote to close this question, BTW.) However, if Delhi makes the difference, how about tagging this question with the indian-english tag? :-) – Damkerng T. May 26 '15 at 16:07
  • @DamkerngT. Not really old bean! If police is being used to refer to a specific official body, i.e. it's part of the name of the department, then it doesn't make any difference. Here's "the City of London Police/police". :) – Araucaria - Not here any more. May 26 '15 at 18:20
  • @DamkerngT. Btw. what RM's saying is that in those circumstances it can be singular, not that it must be :) – Araucaria - Not here any more. May 26 '15 at 18:27
  • @DamkerngT. Here's a quote from a UK publication on policing "The police has to represent a stable element in society at the time of social and economic change." I think any native speaker will prefer has to have here. And here's a whole nother lot of "police has". You'll have to disregard ones such as "the commissioner of police has" etc. – Araucaria - Not here any more. May 26 '15 at 18:34
  • @lucky Cool! Only joking btw (as you know!) ;) – Araucaria - Not here any more. May 26 '15 at 18:35

3 Answers3

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OALD says police is plural. No usage note. But see this article of Oxford Words blog. http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/09/agreement-over-collective-nouns/

If you see "police" as an organisation, as a whole, you can use it as a singular, when you see "police" as a group of civil servants you can use it as a plural.

rogermue
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In this context, the entire phrase "Delhi Police" is a proper noun. It is an abbreviation of "the Delhi Police Department" (or whatever the official name actually is). As rogermue says, the department can be singular or plural depending on linguistic preference. Generally:

  • If "Department" is present, AmE favors treating the whole phrase as singular (regarding "the department" as a single organization).
  • If "Department" is absent, AmE is either neutral or favors plural (regarding "the police" as a collection of individuals).
  • BrE is either neutral or favors plural, regardless of whether "Department" is present (can assume either interpretation).

Using zero article in front of "Delhi Police" is a bit weirder, in my AmE opinion. But, in my somewhat limited experience with Indian English speakers, omitting the definite article is not uncommon, at least in simple sentences like this one. However, many AmE and BrE native speakers will label it as incorrect, so I would recommend including "the" here, at least if you have an American or British audience in mind:

The Delhi Police [Department/--] [ask/asks] motorists to avoid Connaught Place...

Kevin
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Perhaps the usage is different in India. But in the U.S., I think "police" is always used as a plural, even if referring to a specific police department, PROVIDED THAT "police" is being used as a noun and not an adjective. When it's used as an adjective, than of course the noun governs the number of the verb.

That is:

"The Michigan State Police are advising citizens to avoid Detroit."

"The Michigan State Police Department is advising citizens to avoid Detroit."

We wouldn't say, "The Michigan Police is ..." It's always "are".

Jay
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