I have heard many reasons why Police Officers are called "Cops". I think I finally found the answer in a book by Daniel Howe, "What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815 59 1848.
Prior to 1844, there actually were not municipal police forces. Municipal police forces were created by New York City in 1844 to deal with the rise of riots at the time. Actually London started the first professional Police Force (called "Bobbies" after founder, Sir Robert Peel). In 1844 New York City started the first municipal police force in the United States.
As professional police forces were created in cities, there was some resistance to uniforms (since they smacked of militarism) and frequently the only identification was their copper badge.
The nickname became "coppers" or shorted to "cops" and the nickname stuck.
Out of the numerous explanations I have heard this sound the most logical!
Also, the title of the book is interesting. Howe points out that there was no question mark (or exclamation point) in the original telegraph message. It was "What has God Wrought". It was a statement.
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