Antedating of" fuzz" =policeman(1924)

[Sam Clements]

M-W has 1927.  OED has 1929.  HDAS has 1929.

Using Proquest, _Los Angeles Times_  30 Jan. 1924.  pg. A3

(An article about pickpockets in LA)

>>>"A 'mob' can 'beat a pap' to the 'leather' and get away with it with the ordinary 'fuzz' lookin' on.  But it's a twenty-to-one shot when the 'cannon copper's are wise."<<<

(ed--the 'cannon coppers' was criminal jargon for a special unit in the LAPD to target pickpockets).

There is also a cite in the July, 1924 NY Times as uttered by a criminal in Chicago.

This, of course, doesn't get us any closer to finding the origin.  I'm sure it's probably Wolof or Irish.  :)

Sam Clements