Is the police "vocabulary" of terms (codes) universal, and if so where can I find it? Or is the language different PD to PD?
Thanks in advance,
Cal
The trend is towards plain language in all emergency services, but some agencies are still holdouts. If you hear a department using "10" codes, you'll want to reach out to someone local and get a list of their definitions. Some are universal; 10-4 means affirmative or acknowledge or yes pretty much everywhere in the US, but beyond that, it's all local preference.
Plain language can have some variations. Perps, perpetrators, suspects, subjects all pretty much mean the bad guys, but those words can be very department specific. We had a transfer officer from NYC who kept telling us about "perps". Half of our dispatchers didn't know what he meant the first time around. Same with asking for a "buggy" which is slang for an ambulance. Some areas use the slang, others don't.
As a career dispatcher, I always preferred to stay away from slang, and tried to set the example for other dispatchers and units in the field. It was tough when 10 codes were abolished locally; lots of old habits to unlearn. A few officers were pretty stubborn about it, and as the years went by and we had more and more dispatchers who never learned the 10 codes, it got terribly apparent that saying: "I'll be out with a bad 10-50." was guaranteed to get a "What do you mean?" from any newer dispatchers. (10-50 is a motor vehicle accident.) Even the newer police officers had to ask the old timer to translate.
There are also some local code words that have evolved, and that is something that you'll have to learn about on a local level. To me, a Code 99 is a confirmed airplane crash involving more than just a couple of victims. In other areas, it could mean almost anything.
There are some glossaries of police, fire, and ems terms out there so some Goggle searching will point the way.
Locating a scanner enthusiast locally is a good idea as he or she may already have such a list.
Legal terms will vary from state to state because of different laws, too, and cops like to use legal terminology.
If you hear something you don't understand, and there is no local person to answer your question, ask in this forum. Someone will likely know, or be able to make an educated guess.