ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards) is an acronym used as a political slogan associated with dissidents who are opposed to the police. It is typically written as a catchphrase in graffiti, tattoos or other imagery in public spaces. It is sometimes numerically rendered as "1312", representing the position of the letters in the English alphabet.
Background
The phrase "All Coppers Are Bastards" first appeared in England in the 1920s, then was abbreviated to "ACAB" by workers on strike in the 1940s. The acronym is historically associated with criminals in the United Kingdom. First reported as a prison tattoo in the 1970s, it is commonly rendered as one letter per finger, or sometimes disguised as symbolic small dots across each knuckle. In 1970, the Daily Mirror ran the phrase as a headline, and wrote that it was borne by a Hells Angel on the street. British director Sidney Hayers also used a censored version as the title of his 1972 crime drama All Coppers Are.... In 1977, a Newcastle journalist saw it written on the walls of a prison cell.During the 1980s, ACAB became...