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I have often come across terms like London's finest, New York's finest, etc., intended to mean the police forces of the respective cities. I think in the case of Scotland Yard, the term even has some official currency. How did this usage originate? Was it sarcastic or propaganda?

It's hard to believe that the finest people of a city are its policemen, especially given how often popular tales involve thieves and outlaws as protagonists.

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    I've never heard of the Metropolitan Police (or the City of London Police) referred to as "London's finest". I live in the UK and, since so much of the country's news relates to London and the police are very often mentioned in the news, I'm sure I would have heard it in hundreds of news reports if it was at all common.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 10:53
  • @DavidRicherby Selection bias at work, I suppose. For some reason, I have always associated that phrase with London. Perhaps because I have seen that phrase in some work of fiction, and considered that usage for the Metropolitan Police to be preeminent.
    – muru
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 10:57
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    Yeah, it was probably somebody saying "London's finest" by analogy with "New York's finest". It's not a phrase that's in common use.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 11:01
  • @DavidRicherby Yes, the oldest reference to "London's Finest" I can dig up is this 1909 work, which makes we wonder where I read that phrase. I haven't read many modern works centred on London.
    – muru
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 11:08
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    My guess would be that "New York's Finest" was a cliche promoted by New York's Finest at some time in the past and it stuck. On rare occasions one hears "LA's Finest" or "Chicago's Finest", but it's more likely to be used sarcastically than as a complementary term. (And "New York's Finest" is quite often used sarcastically as well.)
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 16:50

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In the case of "New York's Finest," Barry [Popik] has traced the term back to the 1870s, where it apparently first emerged in the form "the finest police force in the world," a phrase associated with George Matsell (police chief at the time), and possibly modeled on Civil War Major General Joseph Hooker's estimation of his troops as "the finest army on the planet." The general idea of New York's police being "the finest" had been asserted in print for several years by that point, so it wasn't surprising that eventually the tribute was codified in the phrase "New York's Finest."

http://www.word-detective.com/0806C.html

I've never heard the police in London referred to as "London's finest", and a search for that phrase results in must-see landmarks, expensive hotels, hairdressers, dance troupes and man-and-van services. But adding the word police shows the Metropolitan Police do (or have) used the phrase:

A career with London's finest

http://content.met.police.uk/News/A-career-with-Londons-finest/1260267625884/1257246745756

I don't think it's an official term in London, unlike New York and some other American cities.

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    That is confusing. How does 'X's finest' imply that X's finest is the finest of something in the whole world? After all, there is only one police force in a given city.
    – muru
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 9:05
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    Well, obviously NYPD are the best PD in NY because they're the only one. But you can still compare PDs from different cities in terms of policing abilities. But we shouldn't confuse original meanings with current meanings. What was first meant by X's finest is different to now. Word meanings change all the time. Now people generally mean they're the finest in that city. See also "The bravest" for the FDNY.
    – Hugo
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 9:25
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    I suppose there's the confusion. I always assumed it to mean the finest of the people in a city, rather than the finest of the police force(s) in a city.
    – muru
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 9:35
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    @muri, Yes, the implication is only the finest men in the city are admitted to the police force, and of course the finest men of the city aspire to become members of the olive force. In other words, if you're looking for the finest people in the city, look in the police force.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 12:47
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    @DanBron that was my understanding, but it seems so outrageously false.
    – muru
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 14:25
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In NYC, the police are "NY's Finest", the firemen are "NY's Bravest" and the sanitation workers are "NY's Strongest". ("Everybody wants to get into the act" - Jimmy Durante)

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  • Hugo's link also mentions these terms. Everybody wants to get into the act is a TV show, I presume?
    – muru
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 15:34
  • @muru - no, it's a quotation attributed to Durante.
    – James McLeod
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 15:57
  • @muru - I'm sure "Everybody wants to get into the act" predates TV -- probably refers to vaudeville.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 16:53
  • @HotLicks possibly, but I didn't get how Oldbag is linking the quote with with the first sentence. Googling showed some mentions of a TV show.
    – muru
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 16:54
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    @HotLicks- Thanx for covering for me, I was @ work. As for the politicians, there are expletives, but no superlatives.
    – Oldbag
    Commented Dec 21, 2014 at 23:31
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It's the Eighth Amendment.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

People are simply making neutral comments about the superlative traffic fines they are paying.

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  • This seems somewhat unlikely as a source for the term.
    – KillingTime
    Commented Apr 15, 2021 at 5:13
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During the Civil War rioters in New York protested the unfairness of the draft. (It's a rich man's war but a poor man's fight.) It was wild enough that Lincoln ordered soldiers from the Army Of the Potomac to go to New York to restore order. Before the soldiers got to New York the police had won the street battles and ended the riot. The New York P.D. had earned the title New York's Finest in combat. Other police departments have not earned the title.

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    Needs references.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Nov 8, 2019 at 19:49

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