False sense of security?

[lschmidt]

I've heard one officer ask another "is your radio secure?" when the other
officer says yes they start talking.Yet I hear every word clearly.What does
"is your radio secure?" mean?

 

[ericcarlson]

They ask that when they don't want a suspect to be able to hear what they're about to say on the radio.

-Eric

 

[ChrisP]

I've heard one officer ask another "is your radio secure?" when the other
officer says yes they start talking.Yet I hear every word clearly.What does
"is your radio secure?" mean?

The first officer is asking the other if anyone around him can hear the radio, as in the suspect in the car or someone he's dealing with.

Dispatchers often ask that if they have a warrant or wanted come back on a person the officer is dealing with. They don't want the suspect to hear the radio and take off if they have a warrant or are wanted.

- C

 

[lschmidt]

Thanks for the info,hear that phrase fairly often.

 

[tglendye]

... They don't want the suspect to hear the radio and take off if they have a warrant or are wanted.

- C

Very true, but it's probably more of an officer safety measure than anything. If the suspect hears it across the officer's radio, the suspect may react by immediately attacking the officer.

Officer safety is always the priority. They can always catch up with the toads later.

 

[SCPD]

When I worked for Anne Arundel County P.D. in Maryland we used that phrase often. The turds out there knew the 10 codes better than we did. If we got a 10-99 hit (warrant) on a turd the dispatcher didn't want to tip him/her off prior to the cuffs coming out.

 

[scanfan03]

When I worked for Anne Arundel County P.D. in Maryland we used that phrase often. The turds out there knew the 10 codes better than we did. If we got a 10-99 hit (warrant) on a turd the dispatcher didn't want to tip him/her off prior to the cuffs coming out.

hey, that's the same code for a warrant for TX DPS. Except DPS doesn't have handhelds, so they don't have to ask if their mic is secure.

 

[mikea7531]

Here in Central Jersey, we here the phrase "Is your mic clear?" when a dispatcher is about to tell the officer about warrents/wants on a suspect.

 

[scanfan03]

clear, secure it's all the same, I hear the County dispatcher say one or the other. Some will say "Is your mic secure?" and some will say "Is your mic clear?".

 

[mikea7531]

One time a few weeks ago, there was a motor vehicle stop with numerous warrants out for the driver of the car. Here's what took place:

County Dispatch: "Sierra AA, is your mic clear?"
Sierra AA: "Negative county, please stand by"
Sierra BB: "County, my mic is clear, go ahead"
County Dispatch: "Um, you might want to rethink that Sierra BB"

Just because HE'S clear, doesn't mean that the other officer's radio won't receive the broadcast. DUH!

 

[K5MAR]

SOP in this area of Oklahoma is to inquire if the officer is 10-12 (suspect present or in hearing range), or to advise that we have 10-12 information. Sometimes, if one of the officers has his unit radio on the PA, he/she will advise dispatch to go to another channel. It's all about officer safety. Suspect behavior is unpredictable, a perfectly calm suspect may go totally bonkers when he learns that the officers know about past "indiscretions".

One of our officers was on a Peeping Tom call one time, and collared one of our local punks at the scene. Roy was well acquainted with the suspect, and basically told him to come along, not placing him in handcuffs. BIG MISTAKE! He had almost reached his unit with the suspect when the complaining party came out and shouted "That's him!". The suspect suddenly turned on Roy and, knocking him to the ground, started choking him. Roy managed to draw his weapon and started striking the guy on the side of the head with it. He told me later that he was starting to lose consciousness, and had just decided he was going to have to shoot the suspect, when the guy finally let go, About that time his backup arrived (a neighbor called in an "Officer Down" and we dispatched everybody in the area!), they cuffed the a**h**e, and that was the end of it. But there was a major policy overhaul after that. Cuff 'em first, and don't give any prior indication of warrants, etc.

I might also add that this incident scared me half to death! This was back in the early Seventies, and handheld radios were not standard issue. In fact, we only had 3 Moto HT-220s for what was then a 60-70 man department. So I had no idea there was any problem until the citizen called in saying "Hey, the cop is on the ground and this guy is choking him!". I had local cops, SO deputies, university police and an OHP trooper all responding to assist. Hell, if the dog catcher had been on-duty, I'd have sent him!

Mark S.

 

[mlevin]

When I worked for Anne Arundel County P.D. in Maryland we used that phrase often. The turds out there knew the 10 codes better than we did. If we got a 10-99 hit (warrant) on a turd the dispatcher didn't want to tip him/her off prior to the cuffs coming out.

hey, that's the same code for a warrant for TX DPS. Except DPS doesn't have handhelds, so they don't have to ask if their mic is secure.

That's becuase they use the standard expanded APCO codes. (Same with Baltimore Co. and MSP) I don't know why everybody doesn't use them. It would make life so much easier for everybody.

 

[scanfan03]

When I worked for Anne Arundel County P.D. in Maryland we used that phrase often. The turds out there knew the 10 codes better than we did. If we got a 10-99 hit (warrant) on a turd the dispatcher didn't want to tip him/her off prior to the cuffs coming out.

hey, that's the same code for a warrant for TX DPS. Except DPS doesn't have handhelds, so they don't have to ask if their mic is secure.

That's becuase they use the standard expanded APCO codes. (Same with Baltimore Co. and MSP) I don't know why everybody doesn't use them. It would make life so much easier for everybody.

You are correct!!

 

[Thunderbolt]

That's becuase they use the standard expanded APCO codes. (Same with Baltimore Co. and MSP) I don't know why everybody doesn't use them. It would make life so much easier for everybody.

Or at least use a set of uniform codes across the entire state. One retired officer I know, once told me that his department used a different set of radio codes from everyone else in the county. The chief wanted it this way so not only the criminals with scanners would not understand what they were saying, but other neighboring agencies as well. However, back in the early 1970s some of the local departments here in Michigan, purchased new radios with analog voice inversion scrambling.

The policy back then about using voice encryption was to keep scanner listeners, criminals, the media, and elected officials from hearing sensitive information. Likewise, if they wanted to talk down another agency; they could do so without any repercussions. Mostly, the encryption was used to discuss good looking women, departmental policy, and food orders. It's hard to believe they used this type of encryption up until the late 1990s, until they moved to a trunking system.


73's


Ron

 

[INDY72]

In the area I live in there are four agencies that still use inversions, along with two that use real DES-OFB. Of the four using inversion, one is almost understandable. And then there is one that still confuses me--- the mobile side is encrypted in some format, the dispatch is clear.

 

[Linn]

Actually TX DPS Troopers have handhelds, at least where I work. Most of the Troopers where I work do not carry them though. A Trooper recently learned how valuable a handheld was when he got in a foot chase in town. The trooper finally got help by yelling for the people whose backyard he had the bad guy cornered in to call 911. That trooper now wears his handheld. Even when they don't have their handhelds the troopers put their car radio on speaker when on stops so the radio can be heard by the trooper and anyone around.

Linn

 

[mikewazowski]

The Ontario Provincial Police use 10-69 to ask if an officer is the only one in earshot of his radio.

Someone had a sense of humour when they thought that one up.

:lol:

 

[Thunderbolt]

The Ontario Provincial Police use 10-69 to ask if an officer is the only one in earshot of his radio.

Someone had a sense of humour when they thought that one up.

:lol:

Right, one female dispatcher on the OPP around five years ago, asked a patrol unit just off the 401 "are you currently 69?" The officer replied back, "With your future husband as my partner, I would hardly think so!" The dispatcher lost it and it took her a couple of seconds to pull herself together. hahahahahahaha LOL

I am sure anyone else listening to the old NOR system that night, must have thought it was humorous. The channel was being held open for a party at a bar that got out of hand, and there must have been a couple of hundred of people present who did not care for the police.

 

[RadioJonD]

Whithout giving away too much operation procedure here, we in the AL DPS train with voice inflection in mind. Even when suspects know ten codes as good as we do, often the tone of our voice can tip off someone that hasn't a clue of what ten codes are. If we are excited or tense, the suspect can pick up on that. But by blending what we say in with normal radio chatter, even suspects that know ten codes won't catch on. Also we don't overuse our ten code for "subject with you?". We use techniques that offer troopers a "heads up" even before we broadcast a "hit". We always keep in mind that in a wanted situation, the only person in the patrol car that doesn't initially know the suspect is wanted is the trooper or officer. At this critical point, officer safety takes priority over getting a criminal off the street.

 

[RadioJonD]

Whithout giving away too much operation procedure here, we in the AL DPS train with voice inflection in mind. Even when suspects know ten codes as good as we do, often the tone of our voice can tip off someone that hasn't a clue of what ten codes are. If we are excited or tense, the suspect can pick up on that. But by blending what we say in with normal radio chatter, even suspects that know ten codes won't catch on. Also we don't overuse our ten code for "subject with you?". We use techniques that offer troopers a "heads up" even before we broadcast a "hit". We always keep in mind that in a wanted situation, the only person in the patrol car that doesn't initially know the suspect is wanted is the trooper or officer. At this critical point, officer safety takes priority over getting a criminal off the street.