Slang term for a police detective, used in casual or rough speech. Often heard in crime dramas and among criminals or police in fiction.
See also: 刑事
That detective is a sharp one.
The criminal ran around trying to escape the cops chasing him.
The cops are staking out, so be careful.
The cops are here, hide!
The everyday counter for people: 一人 (ひとり), 二人 (ふたり), 三人 (さんにん).
Used in somewhat formal contexts or when listing people, e.g. on a roster or seating chart.
Common katakana spelling for this slang term.
Hiragana spelling, also used.
Ateji (gikun) spelling; the kanji normally read けいじ. Used in fiction or stylized contexts.
Police slang derived from 角袖, a name for the square-sleeved plain clothes worn by early modern plainclothes officers. The syllables were reversed in the cant form でそくか, subsequently shortened to デカ.