Americanisms

I am at present reading a novel written by an English author set in England but the police are referred to as 'cops'.

I wonder whether this is to appeal to the US book market.

The word copper is used in the UK, an old expression is , “it’s a fair cop.” I do agree that ‘cops’ is more used in the USA.

Roy said:

“it’s a fair cop.”

I don't think this is derived from the police 

owad.de/.../it-s-a-fair-cop

Roy said:

“it’s a fair cop.”

I don't think this is derived from the police 

owad.de/.../it-s-a-fair-cop

You are referring to 'cop' which has a different derivative to the expression 'it's a fair cop'.

I had already linked a likely history of that.

It is derived from Latin, most commonly through the French term that was introduced into the UK in the 1700s:

www.rd.com/.../
The term stems from the Old French caper, per the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). “Cop is a verb that means ‘to seize,’ or when there are people to do it, ‘arrest,'”