LAPD Supervisory/Command Staff callsigns

[Silvesteeer]

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but I couldn't figure this problem out even though I read the forums quite a lot and also read LAPD's manuals.

My question is: What would a Station Captain out on the field identify as on the radio? Would the CPT be a Z or an SL unit? Perhaps Station Desk L90?

 

[KG6GTH]

L90= Watch Commander or Desk Officer
COMMANDER (Adam or Boy) = Station Area Captain or Patrol Captain
L20,30,40,50,60,70,80, - Sgt (Field Supervisor)
L10 - SGT II AWC or LT W/C

 

[Silvesteeer]

And how does the COMMANDER callsign work exactly with different patrol areas. Would a Southeast Station Captain be COMMANDER 18A/B?

 

[ladn]

With MDT's and cellphones, I can't remember the last time I heard any command staff on the air.

 

[KG6GTH]

And how does the COMMANDER callsign work exactly with different patrol areas. Would a Southeast Station Captain be COMMANDER 18A/B?

Adam is Typically Area Captain Boy is typically Patrol Captain

 

[KG6GTH]

With MDT's and cellphones, I can't remember the last time
I heard any command staff on the air.

You must not do a lot of monitoring..... Its not often, however when a pre-planned or spontaneous incident occurs, they are all over the radio...

 

[Mateo_Thomas]

So, lets take Central Area for example, which has the number 1.

The Central Area Commanding Officer (Captain III) has the radio designation of "Commander 1 Adam" and CAD designation of C1A.
The Central Patrol Division Commander Officer (Captain I) has the radio designation of "Commander 1 Boy" and CAD designation of C1B.
The Central Detective Division Commander Officer (Captain I) has the radio designation of "Commander 1 Charles" and CAD designation of C1C.

The same applies to the remaining 20 geographical areas. For example, Pacific Area would be Commander 14A, Commander 14B, Commander 14C.

110.30 GEOGRAPHIC COMMANDING OFFICER UNIT DESIGNATIONS.
Commands Within Geographic Areas. Commanding officers within geographic Areas shall be identified by the word "Commander" followed by the number of the Area and the letter "A" "B" or “C.” The letter "A" shall indicate Area commanding officer, "B" shall indicate the patrol division commanding officer, and “C” shall indicate the Area detective division commanding officer.

LAPD Manual - Volume 4/110.30

 

[Mateo_Thomas]

L90= Watch Commander or Desk Officer
COMMANDER (Adam or Boy) = Station Area Captain or Patrol Captain
L20,30,40,50,60,70,80, - Sgt (Field Supervisor)
L10 - SGT II AWC or LT W/C

So, this is slightly incorrect.

L90 is the "Base Station". Although typically manned by the Watch Commander or Assistant Watch Commander, the designation is not assigned to the Watch Commander specifically.

L80 is not used by any Field Supervisor (Sergeant I) as it conflicts with the Area Community Relations Officer designation. Field Supervisors (Sergeant Is) use L30 through L70.

L10 is used by the Watch Commander (Lieutenant I). The Assistant Watch Commander (Sergeant II) uses L20.

 

[hotdjdave]

L (LINCOLN) indicates a one-man unit (as opposed to A (ADAM), which indicates a 2-man basic patrol car). Numbers ending in a 0 (zero) indicate a supervisor (usually a sergeant); whereas, 10 is the Watch Commander (regardless of rank) and 90 is the station desk (also, regardless of rank). They sometimes will indicated which watch (shift), particularly when two overlapping watches/shifts are on duty.

In the call call sign, the first set of digits (a number or two numbers) indicates the police station/division/area. The second set of digits (a letter or two letters) indicates the type of unit. The third set of digits (two or three numbers) indicate the unit number and/or beat assignment. Example 1-ADAM-12 (1A12) indicates: 1 - Central Division, A or ADAM - a basic two-man car/unit, and 12 is the patrol beat (area of patrol coverage within a division/area covering a certain set of RDs or Reporting Districts). Sometimes you may hear two types of units within one callsign, for example 1-MARY-QUEEN-7, where MARY-QUEEN indicates motorcycle working a special event (often a traffic task force, in this case). Another two-digit unit type example is an XL unit, which indicates a extra one-man patrol unit (extra units are an additional unit assigned to a patrol area, such as 1A12 is the basic unit and the extra unit in that patrol area (12) would be 1XL12.

LAPD doesn't typically use rank in their call sigs, as does other departments. For example, for some departments, S would be sergeant and L would be lieutenant.

Below are all the combinations that are typically used. There may be some obsolete ones and there may be ones that are used but not seen below.

DIVISION NUMBER​

1 CENTRAL
2 RAMPART
3 SOUTHWEST
4 HOLLENBECK
5 HARBOR
6 HOLLYWOOD
7 WILSHIRE
8 WEST LOS ANGELES
9 VAN NUYS
10 WEST VALLEY
11 NORTHEAST
12 77TH STREET
13 NEWTON STREET
14 PACIFIC
15 NORTH HOLLYWOOD
16 FOOTHILL
17 DEVONSHIRE
18 SOUTHEAST
19 MISSION
20 OLYMPIC
21 TOPANGA
24 CENTRAL TRAFFIC
25 SOUTH TRAFFIC
34 WEST TRAFFIC
35 VALLEY TRAFFIC

TYPE OF UNIT​

A TWO MAN PATROL VEHICLE
B TWO MAN PATROL VAN
C PARKING ENFORCEMENT
CL BICYCLE PATROL ("CYCLE")
CRASH - COMMUNITY RESOURCES AGAINST STREET HOODLUMS (Anti-Gang)
DV DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
E TRAFFIC ENFORCMENT
F FELONY ENFORCEMENT
FB UNIFORMED FOOT PATROL (FOOT BEAT)
G GANG UNIT (REPLACED CRASH UNITS)
H DIVISIONAL HOMICIDE
IBARS FIELD BOOKING
J JUVENILE INVESTIGATOR
JW JUVENILE INVESTIGATOR (FEMALE)
L ONE MAN PATROL VEHICLE
M MOTORCYCLE UNIT
MQ SPECIAL MOTORCYLE UNIT
MX DUI PATROL UNIT
OP OBSERVATION POST
P SPECIAL DETAIL/EVENTS SUPERVISOR
Q SPECIAL DETAIL/EVENTS UNIT
T TRAFFIC INVESTIGATOR
TL TRAFFIC INVESTIGATOR SUPERVISOR
U REPORT TAKING UNIT
UC UCLA POLICE
V DIVISIONAL VICE INVESTIGATOR
VS VISITOR SERVICES
W DIVISONAL DETECTIVES
X EXTRA PATROL UNIT
Z SPECIAL PATROL UNIT (RESERVES)

10 WATCH COMMANDER
20-70, 100-180 FIELD SUPERVISOR
80 COMMUNITY RELATIONS
90 STATION DESK

CITYWIDE UNITS​

SUPPORT SERVICES (“DAVID” UNITS):​

1D FIELD SUPPORT SERVICES
2D AIRCRAFT SUPPORT SERVICES
3D TACTICAL PLANNING

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES (“HENRY” UNITS):​

1H DETENTIONS/JAIL
2H SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS
2H2 BOMB SQUAD
2H90 CRIME LAB
2H90B PHOTO LAB
2H90C LATENT PRINTS
3H ADVANCE PALNNING
4H MOTOR TRANSPORTATION
5H PERSONNEL
6H MANAGEMENT SERVICES
8H FISCAL SERVICES
9H PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
10H COMMUNICATIONS
12H RECORDS & IDENTIFICATION
13H SUPPLIES
14H TRAINING

INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES (“KING” UNITS):​

1K INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES HEADQUARTERS
2K BURGARY/AUTO THEFTS
3K BUNCO/FORGERY
4K ROBBERY/HOMICIDE
5K DETECTIVE SUPPORT SECTION
5K90 SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE SECTION
5K90C CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY SECTION
5K90G GANG SECTION
5K90F FUGITIVE SECTION

METROPOLITAN (METRO) DIVISION (“ROBERT” UNITS):​

R plus Unit Number plus:

A ADMINISTRATIVE PLATOON
B VALLEY PLATOON
C METRO AREA PLATOON
D SPECIAL WEAPONS AND TACTICS (SWAT) TEAM
E EQUESTRIAN UNIT
G METRO ANTI-GANG TASK FORCE ?

SPECIAL SERVICES (“Y” UNITS)​

2Y INTERNAL AFFAIRS
4Y ORGANIZED CRIME INTELLIGENCE
5Y ANTI-TERRORIST UNIT
6Y VICE ADMINISTRATION
7Y NARCOTICS – TASK FORCE AND SPECIAL UNITS
8Y NARCOTICS – FIELD ENFORCEMENT
9Y NARCOTICS – MAJOR and MID-LEVEL ENFORCEMENT

 

[Mateo_Thomas]

METROPOLITAN (METRO) DIVISION (“ROBERT” UNITS):​

R plus Unit Number plus:

A ADMINISTRATIVE PLATOON
B VALLEY PLATOON
C METRO AREA PLATOON
D SPECIAL WEAPONS AND TACTICS (SWAT) TEAM
E EQUESTRIAN UNIT
G METRO ANTI-GANG TASK FORCE ?

There is no A or G Platoon anymore in Metropolitan Division. The only two Line Platoons that remain are B and C Platoons. The Administrative Platoon is known as "M" Platoon.

SPECIAL SERVICES (“Y” UNITS)​

2Y INTERNAL AFFAIRS
4Y ORGANIZED CRIME INTELLIGENCE
5Y ANTI-TERRORIST UNIT
6Y VICE ADMINISTRATION
7Y NARCOTICS – TASK FORCE AND SPECIAL UNITS
8Y NARCOTICS – FIELD ENFORCEMENT
9Y NARCOTICS – MAJOR and MID-LEVEL ENFORCEMENT

Internal Affairs units are designated as 4I, not 2Y.
4Y, 5Y and 6Y no longer exist.

 

[es93546]

There is no A or G Platoon anymore in Metropolitan Division. The only two Line Platoons that remain are B and C Platoons. The Administrative Platoon is known as "M" Platoon.



Internal Affairs units are designated as 4I, not 2Y. 4Y, 5Y and 6Y no longer exist.

What happened to "Major Crimes?" Despite the TV show there was once a unit of this name and it was in Parker Center.

Note that the report taking units "U" units had or have a slang term of "U Boats." I've seen that slang used in some TV shows, but heard it from an officer once. But hey, in August I will celebrate my 50th anniversary of leaving L.A. for the last time, so what do I know?

EDIT: That's leaving L.A. the last time as a residence. I used to visit often to take care of my mother's needs and for Christmas, etc. I bought my PRO-96 (first digital scanner) when LAPD went digital and only because they did as nothing at home was digital at the time.

 

[es93546]

L (LINCOLN) indicates a one-man unit (as opposed to A (ADAM), which indicates a 2-man basic patrol car). Numbers ending in a 0 (zero) indicate a supervisor (usually a sergeant); whereas, 10 is the Watch Commander (regardless of rank) and 90 is the station desk (also, regardless of rank). They sometimes will indicated which watch (shift), particularly when two overlapping watches/shifts are on duty.

In the call call sign, the first set of digits (a number or two numbers) indicates the police station/division/area. The second set of digits (a letter or two letters) indicates the type of unit. The third set of digits (two or three numbers) indicate the unit number and/or beat assignment. Example 1-ADAM-12 (1A12) indicates: 1 - Central Division, A or ADAM - a basic two-man car/unit, and 12 is the patrol beat (area of patrol coverage within a division/area covering a certain set of RDs or Reporting Districts). Sometimes you may hear two types of units within one callsign, for example 1-MARY-QUEEN-7, where MARY-QUEEN indicates motorcycle working a special event (often a traffic task force, in this case). Another two-digit unit type example is an XL unit, which indicates a extra one-man patrol unit (extra units are an additional unit assigned to a patrol area, such as 1A12 is the basic unit and the extra unit in that patrol area (12) would be 1XL12.

LAPD doesn't typically use rank in their call sigs, as does other departments. For example, for some departments, S would be sergeant and L would be lieutenant.

Below are all the combinations that are typically used. There may be some obsolete ones and there may be ones that are used but not seen below.

DIVISION NUMBER​

1 CENTRAL
2 RAMPART
3 SOUTHWEST
4 HOLLENBECK
5 HARBOR
6 HOLLYWOOD
7 WILSHIRE
8 WEST LOS ANGELES
9 VAN NUYS
10 WEST VALLEY
11 NORTHEAST
12 77TH STREET
13 NEWTON STREET
14 PACIFIC
15 NORTH HOLLYWOOD
16 FOOTHILL
17 DEVONSHIRE
18 SOUTHEAST
19 MISSION
20 OLYMPIC
21 TOPANGA
24 CENTRAL TRAFFIC
25 SOUTH TRAFFIC
34 WEST TRAFFIC
35 VALLEY TRAFFIC

TYPE OF UNIT​

A TWO MAN PATROL VEHICLE
B TWO MAN PATROL VAN
C PARKING ENFORCEMENT
CL BICYCLE PATROL ("CYCLE")
CRASH - COMMUNITY RESOURCES AGAINST STREET HOODLUMS (Anti-Gang)
DV DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
E TRAFFIC ENFORCMENT
F FELONY ENFORCEMENT
FB UNIFORMED FOOT PATROL (FOOT BEAT)
G GANG UNIT (REPLACED CRASH UNITS)
H DIVISIONAL HOMICIDE
IBARS FIELD BOOKING
J JUVENILE INVESTIGATOR
JW JUVENILE INVESTIGATOR (FEMALE)
L ONE MAN PATROL VEHICLE
M MOTORCYCLE UNIT
MQ SPECIAL MOTORCYLE UNIT
MX DUI PATROL UNIT
OP OBSERVATION POST
P SPECIAL DETAIL/EVENTS SUPERVISOR
Q SPECIAL DETAIL/EVENTS UNIT
T TRAFFIC INVESTIGATOR
TL TRAFFIC INVESTIGATOR SUPERVISOR
U REPORT TAKING UNIT
UC UCLA POLICE
V DIVISIONAL VICE INVESTIGATOR
VS VISITOR SERVICES
W DIVISONAL DETECTIVES
X EXTRA PATROL UNIT
Z SPECIAL PATROL UNIT (RESERVES)

10 WATCH COMMANDER
20-70, 100-180 FIELD SUPERVISOR
80 COMMUNITY RELATIONS
90 STATION DESK

CITYWIDE UNITS​

SUPPORT SERVICES (“DAVID” UNITS):​

1D FIELD SUPPORT SERVICES
2D AIRCRAFT SUPPORT SERVICES
3D TACTICAL PLANNING

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES (“HENRY” UNITS):​

1H DETENTIONS/JAIL
2H SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS
2H2 BOMB SQUAD
2H90 CRIME LAB
2H90B PHOTO LAB
2H90C LATENT PRINTS
3H ADVANCE PALNNING
4H MOTOR TRANSPORTATION
5H PERSONNEL
6H MANAGEMENT SERVICES
8H FISCAL SERVICES
9H PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
10H COMMUNICATIONS
12H RECORDS & IDENTIFICATION
13H SUPPLIES
14H TRAINING

INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES (“KING” UNITS):​

1K INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES HEADQUARTERS
2K BURGARY/AUTO THEFTS
3K BUNCO/FORGERY
4K ROBBERY/HOMICIDE
5K DETECTIVE SUPPORT SECTION
5K90 SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE SECTION
5K90C CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY SECTION
5K90G GANG SECTION
5K90F FUGITIVE SECTION

METROPOLITAN (METRO) DIVISION (“ROBERT” UNITS):​

R plus Unit Number plus:

A ADMINISTRATIVE PLATOON
B VALLEY PLATOON
C METRO AREA PLATOON
D SPECIAL WEAPONS AND TACTICS (SWAT) TEAM
E EQUESTRIAN UNIT
G METRO ANTI-GANG TASK FORCE ?

SPECIAL SERVICES (“Y” UNITS)​

2Y INTERNAL AFFAIRS
4Y ORGANIZED CRIME INTELLIGENCE
5Y ANTI-TERRORIST UNIT
6Y VICE ADMINISTRATION
7Y NARCOTICS – TASK FORCE AND SPECIAL UNITS
8Y NARCOTICS – FIELD ENFORCEMENT
9Y NARCOTICS – MAJOR and MID-LEVEL ENFORCEMENT

I've been doing a bit of monitoring on YouTube. I've heard the digits "31" being used for the transit or rail system with calls such as "31FB14" or similar. This would be a foot beat at a station or maybe even riding a train?

The YouTube LAPD scanner has a ton of frequencies in it including all Bureau Tacs and all Citywide Tacs. I didn't know that once the Citywide Tacs were made available all pursuits are assigned one of them. It makes sense since pursuits can cross divisions back and forth and down the line several times. Then some can go into Riverside, Orange and San Berdo counties, turned over to the CHP, LASO, etc. I like the YouTube scanner because of the good channel labeling that shows. However, on the Broadcastify menu you can sometimes just tune into the dispatch channel of a single division, enabling concentrating on my very old stomping grounds, which I haven't visited since April of 2012.

 

[Mateo_Thomas]

What happened to "Major Crimes?" Despite the TV show there was once a unit of this name and it was in Parker Center.

There is a Major Crimes Division, currently under the Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau. They use 6K.

Note that the report taking units "U" units had or have a slang term of "U Boats." I've seen that slang used in some TV shows, but heard it from an officer once. But hey, in August I will celebrate my 50th anniversary of leaving L.A. for the last time, so what do I know?

Yep, reporting taking "U boats" still do exist, albeit rare!

I've been doing a bit of monitoring on YouTube. I've heard the digits "31" being used for the transit or rail system with calls such as "31FB14" or similar. This would be a foot beat at a station or maybe even riding a train?

That's correct! The Transit Services Division uses division number 31, which typically do uniformed foot beat patrols at stations and on trains. You may also hear "BRT #". This stands for Bus Riding Team.

The YouTube LAPD scanner has a ton of frequencies in it including all Bureau Tacs and all Citywide Tacs. I didn't know that once the Citywide Tacs were made available all pursuits are assigned one of them. It makes sense since pursuits can cross divisions back and forth and down the line several times. Then some can go into Riverside, Orange and San Berdo counties, turned over to the CHP, LASO, etc. I like the YouTube scanner because of the good channel labeling that shows. However, on the Broadcastify menu you can sometimes just tune into the dispatch channel of a single division, enabling concentrating on my very old stomping grounds, which I haven't visited since April of 2012.

I'm going to guess you're watching LA Captain's live streams on YouTube (I do too - they're great!). Yeah, typically what will happen is after the Radio Telephone Operator (RTO) has got the needed units assigned to the pursuit (additional units, supervisor and an air unit who has taken over callouts), the Bureau Communications Coordinator (BCC) will try and move it over to a Bureau or Citywide tactical channel to clear up the Division/BASE frequency for units not involved in the pursuit. It's a good system.

 

[rooivalk]

U-boat...They dive at the start of watch, and dont re-surface until end of watch.....

 

[es93546]

U-boat...They dive at the start of watch, and dont re-surface until end of watch.....

That's funny!

I wonder if being a report taking unit results in less stress. It would seem that they are separated from the action. Maybe officers need a U-boat assignment now and again.

 

[Xaver]

There is no A or G Platoon anymore in Metropolitan Division. The only two Line Platoons that remain are B and C Platoons. The Administrative Platoon is known as "M" Platoon.



Internal Affairs units are designated as 4I, not 2Y.
4Y, 5Y and 6Y no longer exist.

What are the callsigns for Commander, Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief, and Chief? I know I'm a little late.