NPR Covers Switch to Plain Talk

[UPMan]

Plain Talk Eases Police Radio Codes Off The Air : NPR

...10-33, 10-52, GSW doesn't mean officer down, send an ambulance, multiple gunshot wounds, to the Missouri Highway Patrol. To the highway patrol, 10-33 is a traffic backup.


Because the dispatcher switched to plain English, every state trooper for 50 miles came running. The officer lived, and the suspect was caught in less than an hour.

[ab3a]

This is long overdue. It's something that has bugged me for decades. Is it really more concise to say "10-20" instead of "where are you?"

One thing that would make things flow better still is to use specific phraseology. Listen to air traffic control some time for an idea of how this works. It's really no big deal.

Another pet peeve of mine is the use of so many made-up phonetic alphabets. The NATO one works just fine. It was designed for use by international groups and to be understood even through thick accents. Many if not most police officers have been in the military at one time or another. They all should know it. Why use anything else?

[UPMan]

So, I guess my call sign "November Five Texas Prom Queen" won't cut it...

Fort Worth just made the switchover. Seems that many of the agencies in N. Texas are now "plain language" most of the time (but it is hard to get them out of the habit of code/signal talk after learning/executing that way forever). I suspect a few 10-codes will be in use forever.

10-4

[DaveNF2G]

Sometimes a stray 10-code tossed into a conversation is a subtle "how long have you been a cop/dispatcher" test.

[jim202]

Not to blow any body's bubble, but your a day late and a dollar short on this news. It has been
in the works for several years. APCO has been pushing along with DHS for a long time. Habits
are hard to break and like one of the other posters has said, you will probably hear some of the
more common codes for years to come.

Public safety has always had the issue with the meaning of the 10 codes not the same from
one agency to the other. Now with the push to clear text being made, the mis understanding
is starting to go away.

Jim

Originally Posted by UPMan

Plain Talk Eases Police Radio Codes Off The Air : NPR

[zerg901]

Even "Plain" English can be a problem as ab3a posted.

What does "clear" mean? Does it mean "available for the next call"? Does it mean "your message is perfectly readable"? Does it mean "I received your message"? Does it mean "leave that piddly call, and go to the more important call"?

Next question - what is the difference between "clear" and "clear?" ?

'Phraseology' and 'message format' are very important.

Peter Sz

[N_Jay]

Everything is understood in context.
Nothing new,

[zerg901]

That is exactly one of the major problems - often there is no context. Often there is no message formatting. Often there is no IDs.

N Jay - who are you?

Peter Sz

[N_Jay]

There is always context! (except in disassociated examples)

I am me.

Simple, when you answer a question, make sure you communicate sufficiently that your response can be understood in context.

Too many people over-shorten communications to the point they are more easily misunderstood, than understood!

10-4?

[jackj]

Originally Posted by UPMan

So, I guess my call sign "November Five Texas Prom Queen" won't cut it...

Fort Worth just made the switchover. Seems that many of the agencies in N. Texas are now "plain language" most of the time (but it is hard to get them out of the habit of code/signal talk after learning/executing that way forever). I suspect a few 10-codes will be in use forever.

10-4

Neither will mine "Nancy Eight Bitter Sweet Rhubarb"

Jack j

[Fast1eddie]

When the silly a$$ hams stop coming up with cutsey phonetics, I'll stop using 10 codes. Codes are still heavily used in my location.

[kb2vxa]

I couldn't care less about your 10 codes, hams use Q signals. I am and always will be a KB2 Very Xcellent Amateur... NYEAH! dit dit

[ab3a]

There is probably a very interesting psychology paper in the making for why people feel the need to use code-speech on a two way radio. However, in most cases there is no need.

The point is to communicate. Repeats take time. We need to get people to stop using all this whacked out jargon and just talk plain language. The word "clear" as brought up earlier is a classic example. It really means "I'm trying to shut up." I've heard people "clearing" for five minutes.

Another hopelessly stupid bit of phraseology is "direct" as in "I copy directly". This came from old simplex low band communications, where it was commonplace to not be able to hear the other mobiles except if you were within a few miles of them. So to avoid having the dispatcher repeat things, one might say "copy-direct." Today, you can still hear cops and firefighters use the same phraseology on their trunking systems. Instead of acknowledging everything, they wait for the dispatcher to repeat it, and then they say "direct."

I know old habits die hard; but do we really need to perpetuate this?

Mumble Grumble Spit...

[rvictor]

Originally Posted by kb2vxa

I couldn't care less about your 10 codes, hams use Q signals. I am and always will be a KB2 Very Xcellent Amateur... NYEAH! dit dit

Roger, KB2VEA

Dick