(Dumb Question Alert) Why many Police agency's use the word Adam ?

[John599nj]

Why do many Police agency's use the word Adam when they call there cars??
is that because of the TV show Adam 12 lol????
I warned you it was a dumb question.

[N2JDS]

Dumb answer maybe alert, In my opinion, it would be mostly because of "phonetics" a way to attach a well know word, to a letter, A-12, would be the same as Adam 12.

LAPD Phonetic Alphabet
Letter Phonetic
A Adam
B Boy
C Charles
D David
E Edward
F Frank
G George
H Henry
I Ida
J John
K King
L Lincoln
M Mary
N Nora
O Ocean
P Paul
Q Queen
R Robert
S Sam
T Tom
U Union
V Victor
W William
X X-ray
Y Young
Z Zebra
0 Zero
1 One
2 Two
3 Three
4 Four
5 Five
6 Six
7 Seven
8 Eight
9 Nine

[dw2872]

And all police departments use this phonetic alphabet... even the ones back in the Adam 12 days. That's why they used Adam in the show, way back then.

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[dw2872]

Adam 12 used it because police departments used it, not the other way around.

Good question though! Makes you think about it.

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[pjtnascar]

Most I hear will say Alpha instead of Adam for the letter a.

[W2NJS]

I never, or almost never, hear that old APCO phonetic alphabet used in my area anymore. Everyone seems to be using the ICAO version (alpha, bravo, etc.).

[ind224]

We have Adam Sector here in Indy. "Adam sector units, beat XX, trouble with a person....."
Most of what I hear police wise uses what N2JDS posted. Military and especially AC use the use the Alpha Bravo ect. again from what I'm hearing. So much RF, so little time...

[John599nj]

Originally Posted by ind224

We have Adam Sector here in Indy. "Adam sector units, ...

Now that might be the answer because I do hear my local PD use the word Adam quite a bit and my township is broken up into east and west because of the square miles they cover. The term Adam just might signify a sector in the township. Anyway thanks for all the answers.

[gr8rcall]

Our PD say Adam not Alpha.

[Jimru]

Here in NYC it's "Adam, Boy, Charlie" etc, as well.

Each division is divided into sectors and labeled accordingly.

When the cops are reading names of persons from their license ( on a car stop, for instance), they will use the same phonetics for spelling out the names.

Not a dumb question at all!

[dw2872]

OK, so MOST PDs use ADAM. Some use the one they commonly use in the military with ALPHA.

Interestingly though, here in Colorado, some of our PDs and SOs, use BAKER instead of BOY only when they are referring to a two-man unit's call sign. They call it being "Baker'd Up". Single man units have the A designator in them. State Patrol used BAKER instead of BOY for their B troop areas within each district. For all the other phonetic spellings these Colorado agencies use ADAM and BOY though.

[KB1UAM]

here in Boston each suburb has its own letter A-E. they use alpha.

[gewecke]

There are the APCO phonetics then there are the military phonetics( which are favored by the amateur radio community).

73,
November, Niner, Zulu,Alpha,Sierra
n9zas

[1ADAM121]

Phonetics.

[JoeyC]

Originally Posted by 1ADAM121

Adam Cars are usually additional or "specialized" cars within a district.

Not really. It depends on the agency.

Using ADAM is simply an easier-to-understand way of saying the letter "A".

[kruser]

As stated, the use of the word Adam is usually to minimize spelling mistakes when giving names over the air. Adam is used for the letter A.

Half the fun of scanning back in the days was figuring out what the codes meant within a department. The term Adam could be an operational code with a meaning for some departments.
If it is used like that, listen long enough and you can usually figure out the meaning.

I hear Adam and Alpha here about equally the same. It all depends on the agency.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by 1ADAM121

Adam Cars are usually additional or "specialized" cars within a district.

No. Here they are one-man units. Baker are two-man, and Charlie is command.

Usually you'll find that you can't say "usually" when talking about police/fire departments across the country

[N2JDS]

I do love when lay people try to use these when spelling things, i had a nurse saying "Z as in zilophone", I explained to her that zilophone is actually xylophone. I could actually see the brains cells crashing in her head trying to process what I just said. I have on occasion been heard relaying to others on my crew that a patient is "Boston Sierra" code for "Bull ****".

[biomedbob]

When I was back in the Marine Operator business (ship to shore), it was not uncommon to have a boater to spell his name (for billing purposes), to go on and on with the surname smith.....S Sierria, M Mike I..........you get the idea.

Then have someone say Chmialuwska, common spelling!

[russellmaher]

Originally Posted by biomedbob

When I was back in the Marine Operator business (ship to shore), it was not uncommon to have a boater to spell his name (for billing purposes), to go on and on with the surname smith.....S Sierria, M Mike I..........you get the idea.

Then have someone say Chmialuwska, common spelling!

..when they drag it out even further by putting in the extra wording - S as in Sierrra, M as in Mike, I as in India, etc....

By this time, I'm screaming at the scanner, "WHAT AN IDIOT"!!