Washoe and RPD Call Signs.

Status
Not open for further replies.

mtonto20

Member
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
17
I'm a newer listener with a Pro-94 programmed to NSRS EDACS. I love listening to the trunked freqs my old scanner couldn't track. Anyways does anyone have a reference sheet for the Police call signs.

Example:

Reno Nora 333
Reno X-Ray
Etc

Traffic seems to just say traffic so thats easy. I just want to know what kind of officers these guys are when they key up Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Take a look at the Nevada database and look up the NSRS system. There is an explanation at the top of the page.
 

mtonto20

Member
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
17
I know. But that is just for NHP. Thats why I only asked for RPD and WCSD. I'm pretty sure it relates to the command areas the officers are assigned to. Nora for North. Charles for Central etc. But I hear deviations all the time. I was just hoping someone could explain or have this information.
 

als365

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
294
Location
Santa Clara, CA
The NSRS listing shows the call signs for NHP. As far as RPD goes:

Charles = central unit
Nora = north unit
Sam = south unit
Union = UNR PD unit

Ones that I'm unsure on:

Adam
William

As far as WCSO goes:

Number1 + Letter + Number2
Not 100% sure on this but I think Number1 is what shift they're on (1,2,3 for day, grave, night)
I think the letter stands for North or South (Nora or Sam)
The second number is the unit number.
So, 3N41 would be 3rd shift, north unit #41.
 

sigint1

Was: joking
Joined
Jul 19, 2001
Messages
416
Copied from a post I made to this forum a long while back - probably still accurate though - I understand the SAVE units may be cut due to budget reductions - For regular Beat units - Nora, Charles, Sam they use 1,2 or 3 for Shift and then the other is beat or zone i think - IE Nora 270 would be a North unit - Day shift - Beat 70 Joe

here are some Reno unit id's

Adam - Gang Units

Charles - Central Reno Police units

David - DRE - Drug/alcohol recognition officers

Frank - Community Services Officers - Non sworn uniformed personnel that take non critical reports - minor accident reports etc

Henry - Mounted (read horseback)

IDA - Detectives (general)

K9 - Police Dog Unit

King - Animal control (county and city of reno)

Lincoln - Parking enforcement officers (non sworn unarmed)

Motor - Motorcycle Polce Officers

Marshall - Reno City Marshalls - Sworn armed officers that work for courts - serve warrants (Sparks also has marshall units - same thing)

Nora - North Reno Police units

Sam - South Reno Police Units

Save - Senior Auxillary Volunteer Effort - Civilian uniformed patrols of malls - parking lots ect - they ticket handicap zone violators - check on abandoned vehicles, assist at special events etc.

Tom - Traffic (Accident Investigation)

Union - UNR (university of Nevada Reno) Police Units

Victor - ???

William - Walking/Bicycle Police Units

Xray - ???

Zebra - ???

Victor, Xray, and Zebra are most likely specialized plainclothes units - Narcotics, Vice, ROPE, Auto Theft, Street Crimes ETC - but dont know which is which yet. - Hope this helps some - Joe
 
Last edited:

mtonto20

Member
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
17
Great Job Joking.....I enjoy reading your other posts too, but haven't found this one yet. Yeah Xray and Zebra calls are very rare. Especially on RPD Green or Yellow.......But as far as the numbering goes I think it's done by rank now because I hear 447 and similar numbers all the time asking for smaller numbers to switch to RPD Gray. The higher the number the Higher the Rank...I could be wrong though. But this list is exactly what I needed thanks.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
I know. But that is just for NHP. Thats why I only asked for RPD and WCSD. I'm pretty sure it relates to the command areas the officers are assigned to. Nora for North. Charles for Central etc. But I hear deviations all the time. I was just hoping someone could explain or have this information.

Sorry I misunderstood you, my fault.

joking's information looks great, I'm going to print it out and put it in my Nevada notebook. My wife and I will be in Reno Wednesday through Saturday for a high school graduation and hopefully I can sneak in some listening time and use this information.
 

mtonto20

Member
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
17
Yeah his information is great. Except I actually think the numbers said after the dept. and Location are related to rank not shift or beat. Example: Reno Nora 444 and Reno Nora 447 were active the other night. I believe these are shift supervisors or seargants. the higher the number the higher the rank/responsibility. I could be wrong. But otherwise that was exactly what i was looking for.

Exsmokey....Friday and Saturday nights are always the best nights to listen. With HS graduation should be even more interesting. Just lock in RPD Green or Yellow and sit back with a cool one if you can. Every once in awhile guys will switch to Gray to have personal conversations these are great to listen to. I personally like the dispatches though. I'm going to start writing down the funniest ones for future referance, some are just to good not to.
 

homestea

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
14
Location
Reno, NV USA
I just thought I would mention that "Raven" means the police helicopter. Thank you for the big list of Call Signs!
 

homestea

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
14
Location
Reno, NV USA
Hello Guys, Im a Reno local and have been listening to the police lately on Green, and I've been hearing a callsign that you havent mentioned yet. It is "Raven" and it means the police helicopter.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Exsmokey....Friday and Saturday nights are always the best nights to listen. With HS graduation should be even more interesting. Just lock in RPD Green or Yellow and sit back with a cool one if you can. Every once in awhile guys will switch to Gray to have personal conversations these are great to listen to. I personally like the dispatches though. I'm going to start writing down the funniest ones for future referance, some are just to good not to.

I was up there for graduation last weekend. Actually the graduation of our good friend's daughter took place on Thursday night in Lawlor. I didn't make it up for graduation night and my wife rode up with someone else. I drove up Friday for the graduate's family party. I ended up not being able to turn on handheld scanner at all, and could only listen when mobile. I was able to listen to the NSRS along the way and with the weather that was occurring it was quite useful to hear the NHP/DOT.

I get up to Reno less and less these days and if we didn't have our friends and their families there, we probably wouldn't go at all. Hopefully we will have Thanksgiving up there and then I can have some alone time to listen to all the systems up there.

I do have a question for everyone. What NSRS site covers the area along 395 between the state line and just south of Gardnerville? I would describe this as the Topaz Lake/Double Springs area and the north to about the Lahontan Fish Hatchery. I don't think I was picking up the control frequency of the Pine Grove site located above the Smith Valley or the one for McClellan. After I returned home I realized that I needed the Minden low level site in the radio for coverage in the Carson Valley, so I wrote that into my file for Northern Nevada.
 
Last edited:

sigint1

Was: joking
Joined
Jul 19, 2001
Messages
416
Hello Guys, Im a Reno local and have been listening to the police lately on Green, and I've been hearing a callsign that you havent mentioned yet. It is "Raven" and it means the police helicopter.

There are actually 4 of them and you are right they use RAVEN - I didn't have them on the Reno ID's as they are actually are part of the Washoe County Sheriff's Department - but they are available to assist any agency so you will hear them quite frequently on other agency talkgroups. One even has a 300 gallon or so tank for fire fighting - so it is very possible to hear them on fire talkgroups/frequencies as well. RAVEN is an acronym for Regional Aviation Enforcement. I also believe the crews are made up of personnel from the various area agencies but I could be wrong on that.

I will try to find out about the Edward and John units
 

sigint1

Was: joking
Joined
Jul 19, 2001
Messages
416
What about Edward and John. Anyone have any ideas?

Heard a John unit on a call at "DRI" - the only thing I know of around Reno that is called "DRI" is the Desert Research Institute and then it hit me - I am going to make a SWAG (scientific wild ass guess) and say they are most likely TMCC police.

TMCC = Truckee Meadows Community College
 

mtonto20

Member
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
17
Joking...We must have heard the same guy then, because I made the same guess....I heard another John unit area checking the Meadowood Mall Campus the other night. Only TMCC has a campus at Meadowood. Why TMCC and UNR police are not combined is beyond me. TMCC could easily contract out to a private security company. Kids don't live on the campus or anything like that. It's more like a business than a college. But like a lawn mower I de-grass.
 

sigint1

Was: joking
Joined
Jul 19, 2001
Messages
416
Joking...We must have heard the same guy then, because I made the same guess....I heard another John unit area checking the Meadowood Mall Campus the other night. Only TMCC has a campus at Meadowood. Why TMCC and UNR police are not combined is beyond me. TMCC could easily contract out to a private security company. Kids don't live on the campus or anything like that. It's more like a business than a college. But like a lawn mower I de-grass.

Excuse me --- surely you are not suggesting something that might save taxpayer dollars --- Shame on you !!! - Joe
 

sigint1

Was: joking
Joined
Jul 19, 2001
Messages
416
Ok - from 3rd party source - supposedly "Edward" is used for special assignments - and could be just about anything - - still trying to confirm that as well as Victor, Xray, and Zebra -- the same source did however also say that the John units were TMCC Police (John and Edward were the only two that were asked about)
 

sigint1

Was: joking
Joined
Jul 19, 2001
Messages
416
Adam - Gang Units

Charles - Central Reno Police units

David - DRE - Drug/alcohol recognition officers

Edward - Special Assignmet (Events ETC.)

Frank - Community Services Officers - Non sworn uniformed personnel that take non critical reports - minor accident reports etc

Henry - Mounted (read horseback)

IDA - Detectives (general)

John - Truckee Meadows Community College Police Units

K9 - Police Dog Unit

King - Animal control (county and city of reno)

Lincoln - Parking enforcement officers (non sworn unarmed)

Motor - Motorcycle Polce Officers

Marshall - Reno City Marshalls - Sworn armed officers that work for courts - serve warrants (Sparks also has marshall units - same thing)

Nora - North Reno Police units

Raven - Washoe County Sheriff's Department Helicopters

Sam - South Reno Police Units

Save - Senior Auxillary Volunteer Effort - Civilian uniformed patrols of malls - parking lots ect - they ticket handicap zone violators - check on abandoned vehicles, assist at special events etc.

Tom - Traffic (Accident Investigation)

Union - UNR (university of Nevada Reno) Police Units

William - Walking/Bicycle Police Units

Xray - Administrative Units

Zebra - Street Enforcement Teams/Vice
 
Last edited:

homestea

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
14
Location
Reno, NV USA
I've been noticing a call sign that we have left out. The callsign is "graffiti" I'm not sure excactly what these units do, I'm thinking it has something to do with vandilism or another type of gang unit. Can anybody confirm?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top