Where does the word Cops come from?

[nupcmaven]

Someone asked me this question tonight. I said it was from the copper buttons the British policemen wear (or wore). Did I make this up, or is there some degree of truth in my statement?

[Fibonacci]

Dictionaries give the etymology of the word as follows:
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, it derived 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_.