Why do they always say "clear"?

Listening to the local police around here and the Michigan State Police and other various law enforcement agencies; when a unit in the field gives information to dispatch and vice versa, they always say "clear."

Why do they do this?

Why not 10-4 or copy or Roger? why clear?

Who came up with that idea?

Just sounds a bit weird to someone who's like a 24 year veteran amateur radio operator who always thought clear meant you were clearing the frequency.

Obviously someone who made up that lingo was not up was not very much a Radio person.

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I am not from MI, and have only worked patrol in MA (but worked all over the country with different agencies as a fed), but "clear" is not the same as an affirmative acknowledgement such as "10-4".

Rather, clear was the status of returning to service after a call. As in "I am clear of the call at 123 Main Street, enroute to city hall for a meeting" or simply "I'm clear".

methusaleh said:

I am not from MI, and have only worked patrol in MA (but worked all over the country with different agencies as a fed), but "clear" is not the same as an affirmative acknowledgement such as "10-4".

Rather, clear was the status of returning to service after a call. As in "I am clear of the call at 123 Main Street, enroute to city hall for a meeting" or simply "I'm clear".

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Yeah I've heard that too.

Which is why I don't understand why they're using the word "clear" for 10-4 or to acknowledge a transmission.

Just seems a bit strange that's all

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I have heard more of this over the years as more police try to act like military. "Over" is used during the conversation and "Clear" at the end of a conversation. If they are saying "Clear" during the conversation, then they just have it wrong.

Another thing I have started to hear more is "Send It", as in "send the information" or acknowledging a ready to receive condition. Maybe in this case it makes them feel like high speed Navy SEAL snipers or something.

In either case, it is un-professional for public safety types.

Under ICS/NIMS no agency should be using ANY codes whether it's "10 codes" or otherwise. Plain understood terms/language should be used.

PACNWDude said:

I have heard more of this over the years as more police try to act like military. "Over" is used during the conversation and "Clear" at the end of a conversation. If they are saying "Clear" during the conversation, then they just have it wrong.

Another thing I have started to hear more is "Send It", as in "send the information" or acknowledging a ready to receive condition. Maybe in this case it makes them feel like high speed Navy SEAL snipers or something.

In either case, it is un-professional for public safety types.

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Why is this unprofessional? Perhaps they may have had some communications issues and some ambiguity relative to the end of transmissions, and they are taking measures to correct them. Either way, I doubt it isn't a case of "trying to be like the military". As long as it facilitates clear, concise communications, I'm all for it.

Whoever came up with the idea of using "clear" to mean "understood" is just like a dog. He has found something he can pee on to put his mark on it. Everyone else is just using their "pack mentality".

They say "that's clear" in the Houston area and Texas Dept of Criminal Justice (prisons). In the northern part of the state you never hear that. They say "received' or "10-4".

Where I used to live they had a firefighter that must have come from the southeast or prison. One time I heard the following when the FD arrived at a vehicle accident with unknown injuries...

FF: Send an amulance to this location.
Dispatch: You were covered by PD. Did you say you need an ambulance?
FF: That's clear.
Dispatch: Do you need an ambulance?
FF: That's clear.
Dispatch: Are you saying you need an ambulance?
FF yelling: THAT'S CLEAR!!!
Dispatch yelling: DO YOU NEED AN AMBULANCE?!!!
Chief: Affirmative! send an ambulace to this location!

This is a good question! (And an interesting discussion.)

First of all, I guess it falls under the category of "We've always done it this way.". When I started, I was taught that this was an acknowledgment of the traffic you just received. Some of my predecessors even used to say "Okay, clear", which seems redundant, I know, but that's what they did. (Even now, I still catch myself doing it now & then.)
As a side note, having listened to the Chicago Fire Department frequently, they use the term: "Message received".

I've heard officers say "send it", but in our case, what they were saying was "send the call to my MCT". Example: Dispatch: "I'm holding a larceny in your district." Officer: "Send it".

Allow me to give you another example:
Even though we have had CAD and MCT's for over a decade, we still have officers who say "Punch me a starter". I'm not just talking about the "old farts" like myself, I'm talking about guys who have never known starter cards; they have only ever used CAD/MCT's their entire (albeit short) career. This is one of those things that gets passed down by their Training Officers and they accept it as the norm. Most of them weren't even born when I started dispatching, & they wouldn't know a starter card if it gave them a paper cut. But "that's the way we've always done it...."

Clear?
Clear.

Hey can't no worse than new york. To acknowledge transmissions they say "k".

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The FDNY does not use K to acknowledge a transmission, it's to have the person verify they received your transmission:

The use of the letter K is a holdover from the days of telegraph. It was sent at the end of a transmission to indicate that I am finished sending and I await your reply. It is similar to the military use of the word over.

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WHAT DOES THE LETTER K MEAN? K

For over fifty years, with various agencies, in different states, 10-4 seemed to be universally accepted.

As a volunteer in the middle-of-nowhere fire department, they insist on "That's affirmative"!

Go figure!

73
kf4br

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and then there was 10-05 for New Hampshire

biomedbob said:

For over fifty years, with various agencies, in different states, 10-4 seemed to be universally accepted.

As a volunteer in the middle-of-nowhere fire department, they insist on "That's affirmative"!

Go figure!

73
kf4br

Sent from my Commodor Pet using a keyboard.

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as an old nyc fd listener

on the vhf repeater it would hang for a couple on seconds .
so the sender would use "k" to signify he was finished.
if that was not the case it sure seemed it to many of us up there. k

In Kentucky the State Police say, Go Ahead" at the end of their transmission. And, many times before an assignment or information is given out the dispatcher will say Break for assignment or break for information.

Nick1427 is absolutely right. Plain language breaks down communication barriers between interop agencies. Everyone is on the same page.

jackj said:

Whoever came up with the idea of using "clear" to mean "understood" is just like a dog. He has found something he can pee on to put his mark on it. Everyone else is just using their "pack mentality".

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That's how all words come into existence and usage.

I've always understood "Clear" to mean the channel is open, and other stations may make a call.

It's amazing the differences in radio lingo around the country, even in the same state. In the Cincinnati and Columbus area "clear" means "available" or "in-service". In parts of Ohio I hear a lot of "your clear" as an acknowledgement.

In Cincinnati "okay" was the usual acknowledgement, but in Columbus they mostly use "copy", where in Cincinnati "copy" meant prepare to write down information, which may not be used as much since mobile computers came into use.

Hamilton County, OH used to repeat everything which was nice because it let you know that the dispatcher was acknowledging you, incase 2 officers may have been speaking at once. This may have gone back to the days before repeaters. I don't hear it in central Ohio much. They rarely repeat, or even use, unit IDs. Sometimes it's hard to tell who is talking.

Public safety has always had their own lingo and codes. Cincinnati has a specific phonetic alphabet, "Adam", "Boy", "Charles", where in Columbus they just use the first word that comes to their head, which defeats the purpose in my opinion. I was always impressed by the amateur's use of their phonetic alphabet but even they rarely use it anymore.

W8RMH said:

It's amazing the differences in radio lingo around the country, even in the same state. In the Cincinnati and Columbus area "clear" means "available" or "in-service". In parts of Ohio I hear a lot of "your clear" as an acknowledgement.

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Philly FD uses "In Service" to mean companies are working on a fireground ("2 & 2 in service" = 2 engs & 2 lads operating). It's the only department I've heard use that phrase in that way.