Police call
In the early 1980s I left a small-town police department in eastern North Carolina when I was hired by a much larger one in central North Carolina. I knew there would be challenges, like many more officers to work with, higher calls for service and much more violent crime. But I didn't think one would be how I talked.
In the small community where I came from, whenever you announced yourself at a call you just said "Police," without any emphasis on one particular part of the word. But during my first few weeks training with an older, more experienced officer, I would go up to a house or apartment and knock and say "Police," like I'd been doing for several years. Someone inside would usually say "Who is it?" I'd repeat myself and get a "Who?" in response.
My training officer just smiled and said "PO-lice," with the emphasis on the "Po." Then the response was, "Oh, come on in" or "Why didn't you say so!" which got a laugh from my training officer. He just looked at me with a wise expression on his weathered face and said, "You know, rookie, it's the South."
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