[2] First reported as a prison tattoo in the 1970s, it is commonly rendered as one letter per finger, or sometimes disguised as a small dot across each knuckle.

[3] British director Sidney Hayers also used a censored version as the title of his 1972 crime drama All Coppers Are....[5] In 1977, a Newcastle journalist saw it written on the walls of a prison cell.

[2][3] In later years, ACAB turned into a popular slogan among European football hooligans and ultras,[7][2] and among anarchist and anti-authoritarian movements across the world.

[9] As protests in response to Floyd's murder and discussions about racially-motivated police violence spread through the United States, ACAB was more frequently referenced on social media and products bearing the acronym became available.

[9] Proponents of the term contended that ACAB means every single police officer is complicit in an unjust system.

[18] On 22 May 2016, a 34-year-old woman in Madrid, Spain, was charged under Article 37 of the Citizen Safety Law for carrying a bag displaying the acronym "A.C.A.B."

[21] On 4 April 2019, a 26-year-old ice hockey fan was arrested for wearing a T-shirt that had a numeric version of ACAB, 1312.

In 2018, a group of Persija Jakarta football fans in Indonesia were arrested for displaying a banner with the message "All Cops Are Bastards" on it during the league match day.

"[24] Criminal charges against the protestors were dropped and a probe characterized the case as "deeply flawed", "insubstantial", and lacking credible evidence in support of the claim that "ACAB" is a gang.

[26] The term has also been used elsewhere in music: The 2012 Italian drama film ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards follows the work of a group of riot control force policemen and tensions within the community.