Cop out (1892)

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"Cop out" should have been somewhere in the National Police Gazette or Life  
or Puck or the Chicago Tribune. I gave a quick check, thinking it might come  
from New York City.
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OED, as usual, is way off.
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HDAS has 1896 (George Ade), then 1900.
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(OED)
 
e. to cop out: to escape; to stop (work, etc.); to  drop out from society; 
also, to give up an attempt, to evade a responsibility  (chiefly N. Amer.). 
slang.  
1942  _BERREY_ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-b2.html#berrey)  & 
VAN  DEN BARK Amer. Thes. Slang §498/3  Flee; escape, cop,..cop (an) out. 1961  
RIGNEY & _SMITH_ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-s3.html#smith)  Real 
Bohemia p. xiv, Cop, to;  out,..to give up Bohemian values, to ‘sell  out to 
squares’. 1967  Jazz Monthly Dec. 19/2 One might  expect him to be playing 
from memory to some extent, taking it easy and copping  out when he can. 1968-70  
Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III-IV. 30, 31 Cop out,..to quit, give up 
without trying. 1969  It 13-28 June 1 After  Photoprinters..copped 
out..It..appeared in a limited edition. 1970  Win 1 Jan. 25/3 The  intellectuals, so many of 
whom were kept from copping out by Bob's continuing  commitment in the face 
of death. 1973  Sunday Sun (Brisbane) 30 Dec. 20/5 One gets the feeling that 
Jewison's use of modern tanks..and  frenetic dance routines gives him some sort 
of an excuse to cop out if he needed  to do so. 1978  S. BRILL  Teamsters x. 
396 Did Gibbons cop  out where a stronger man would have acted? 1986  New 
Statesman 4 July 3/3 But  Peacock and Co...could hardly cop out at that early stage 
and announce that  advertising on the BBC would be a bad thing.
So cop-out,  a flight, an escape; a cowardly compromise or evasion; a retreat 
from reality.  Also, a person who drops out from society.  
1942  _BERREY_ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-b2.html#berrey)  & 
VAN  DEN BARK Amer. Thes. Slang §498/1  Flight; escape, cop-out. 1967  Boston 
Sunday Herald (Suppl.) 14 May 2/1, I know it's..convenient for those of us who 
were not raised by  their parents to refer to their childhood as lonely, and 
blame their adult  behavior on that. I think it's self-pity and a cop-out.  1967 
 Guardian 24 Oct. 6/2 Many of the  London hippies are not only ‘drop-outs’ 
(people who have rejected any form of  social or political activism) but Many 
of the  people who equate mind erasure with the  dissolution of social 
problems. 1969  Win 15 May 9/1 Isn't it a  cop-out to secede from New York State but 
remain a part of the nation?
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_VERSED  IN THIEVE'S SLANG.; Mite of a Boy Typical of an Increasing Class. _ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=3&did=235161442&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=10&V
Inst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1137263003&clientId=65882) 
The Washington Post (1877-1954). Washington, D.C.: Feb 14,  1892. p. 12 (1 
page) :
"Duh wasn' graftin'. Duh diden' do nuthin'. Duh wuz walkin' along  whun duh 
bug guy copped dum out."
(from Chicago Herald--ed.)
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_HEARD  IN THE SANCTUM._ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=190130662&SrchMode=1&sid=11&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1137264219
&clientId=65882) 
The Washington Post (1877-1954).  Washington, D.C.: Nov 27, 1899. p. 10 (1 
page) :
"Gentlemen: When I wrote you regarding your advertisement, it was  not with 
any idea of copping out a Rockefeller fortune. I merely wanted to eke  out 
enough to pay a bootblack."
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_THE  CHORUS GIRL._ 
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=253025492&SrchMode=1&sid=5&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1137263854&clien
tId=65882) 
The Washington Post (1877-1954).  Washington, D.C.: Jan 11, 1903. p. 34 (1 
page) :
"Amy tried to cop him out for herself, but I was his rainbow from  little 
necks to liquor."
(By Roy L. McCardell--ed.)