Should I use acronyms in dialogues before telling the readers what it stands for in fiction?

Question

There are occasions where you basically just start a chapter with a short descriptive passage and go straight to dialogues, so in those situations I am not sure how to deal with acronyms in dialogues.> As Mike settled down for work, he noticed a strange note on the corner> of his desk. Curious, he grabbed the note and looked at it to see if> there was anything inscribed on it, but without warning Kate opened> the door, which startled him and compelled him to put the note inside> his jacket.> "Mike, we have an emergency!" she said.> > "What is it?" he asked.> > "The NDPI requested a meeting."NDPI stands for National Directorate of Police Intelligence, but it wasn't mentioned yet, do I have to sort of add a chapter or dialogue prior to that where the full name is used? What if I don't want to do that? What are my options? I would like to choose the most popular one.

Answer 1

I suggest including a footnote or short "aside", perhaps at the end of the descriptive paragraph, outlining exactly what the acronym means. It would be awkward to have the character say "The NDPI, or National Directorate of Police Intelligence,..." so that might be the most popular way to do it. Or, perhaps have the character say the whole phrase and then later in the paragraph refer to it as the acronym, that way the reader is fully aware of what it means.