The alt.usage.english FAQ   

• "cop"

  (Word Origins)
  
  

  
  does not stand for "constable on patrol" or "constabulary of police".
  The noun "cop" (first attested meaning "policeman" in 1859) is short
  for "copper" (first attested meaning "policeman" in 1846).  "Copper"
  in this sense is unlikely to derive from copper buttons or shields
  worn by early policemen.  Rather, dictionaries derive it from "to
  cop" (first attested meaning "to grab" in 1704 and meaning "to
  arrest" in 1844).  "To cop" may come Dutch _kapen_ = "to steal"; or
  it may come from Old French dialect _caper_ = "to take", from Latin
  _capere_.

  
  
  Source: [Mark Israel, 'Word Origins: "cop"', The alt.usage.english FAQ file,(line 3329), (29 Sept 1997)]
  
  
  
  

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