Police officers to use everyday speech on airwaves

[IdleMonitor]

Urbandale and two other cities will drop use of the shorthand 10-code effective May 1.

By TOM SUK
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
April 26, 2005

A form of communication used by generations of police officers is going 10-42 in Urbandale, West Des Moines and Clive.

That designation, meaning "ending tour of duty," is being dropped with the rest of the 10-code, a shorthand used for years on police radios to share messages.

Beginning May 1, Westcom's dispatchers will switch to everyday speech in radio broadcasts.

Those listening to police scanners or overhearing officers' radio messages will not hear "10-33. 10-10, 10-16, 10-32, 10-31. 10-52, 10-18. Subjects are 10-56."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050426/NEWS01/504260375/1001/RSS01

 

[oregontreehugger]

Good to see some police departments taking the initiative. A lot of fire agencies have done this already. About time!

 

[IdleMonitor]

Here's another part to the story too. The whole idea actually makes sense. But why wait this long to do it?
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http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050426/NEWS01/504260366/1001/RSS01

Cities join Waukee in phasing out police code

By MELISSA WALKER and TOM SUK
REGISTER STAFF WRITERS
April 26, 2005

Waukee police officers rarely use the 10-code when speaking on their radios, and now officers in neighboring suburbs also will discontinue the formerly common form of law enforcement communication.

In many cities, emergency departments have phased out the 10-code because it has become outdated. The Westcom dispatch center, which coordinates emergency calls for the cities of Clive, Urbandale and West Des Moines, will officially make the switch to clear language speech in radio broadcasts May 1.

 

[K2KOH]

I'm kind of surprised at this, because 10 codes were used more for brevity than anything else. The less air time, the better.

 

[jhooten]

Again the "I" word raises it's head. Not all agencies use the same 10 code, and some have their own system not based on the 10 codes. To reduce confusion during interoperability events everyone needs to speak the same language. Plain english in the beginning is faster than having to stop and figure out who you are talking to and how to say what you want to say in their secret code and then repeating it five times for each different responding agency.

BTW, how is "ten twenty seven Ohio number 12345678" more brief than "check Ohio dl 12345678"? Granted when you write it 10-27 Ohio 123456778 it looks shorter, but we can't say it that way.

 

[bill71]

I don't remember what the idea was called, but hear in Northwest Arkansas Rogers P.D. will be doing that same thing. They are the first agency, but the rest of the area is to follow. I know this well start something, but what I've heard is that all agencies Nation wide are to start doing this.

Bill

 

[Colin9690]

Here in Columbus the FD still occasionally uses shorthand such as Signal X (in service), and Signal O (last unit left the scene). Other than that, all short hand has been done away with.

 

[RolnCode3]

Interoperability is totally necessary. However, for the 95% of the time that you're only talking to your own guys, I think codes are a very good idea.

They take away a lot of ambiguity. If I say I'm "10-15" versus "I have someone stopped" or even something slightly more descriptive, everyone else knows that the dude I was talking to is going to jail.

I think if people were just trained on how to deal with the interop situations a little better, the case for the dropping of codes would go away. Drop the codes when you go Interop, or simply learn some of the common codes used by surrounding agencies. It's not as hard as it sounds, but it requires a proactive approach.

 

[loumaag]

When I first moved to Houston I was somewhat surprised that HPD didn't use the 10 codes. There were some other things I was confused with at first as "Codes" were actually reversed as "Priorities" (i.e. "1" is most important, whereas "3" is routine). In any case after listening for awhile, I realized that even though they didn't use the 10 codes, they had developed a shorthand that bothered me for a while until I realized it relied on voice inflection. :shock:

I am sure that this is clear to anyone in the Houston area.

One of my favorite exchages goes like this (starting with the dispatcher checking if a unit is okay, like at a traffic stop or something):

• disp: 20 george 15, clear?
  unit: 15 clear.
  disp: That's clear.

 

[drew6553]

reason for this

the whole reason EMS and Law is going plain talk is because in order to be eligble for new homland security grants and stuff, you have have to be nims intergrated compliant. the idea behind this is that no matter what agency in no matter what part of the country, they will all understand eachother. i know a lot of cops are pissed by it but it makes it so much better.

 

[okla-lawman]

Apco has been pushing this for years. I think it is stupid. There are times when you dont want the person you are with to know. For Example we have 1055 gang banger, 1056 communicable disease (aids), 1054 felony wanted and so on.

 

[cellblock776]

I remember a couple of years ago watching a episode of Cops and hearing Florida officers using Q-codes similar to those used by Ham radio operators. Example- instead of 10-4 they said QSL. You just never know what you might hear.

 

[Mozilla]

Codes

That was and still is Metro Dade, Dade County, Fl ... they use an abbreviated list of the Q codes... when we use to cover multiple counties, there was nothing like spendinjg 3-4 days with QSL and then come up into Broward and Palm Beach and answer one of their dispatchers with q-codes ...

Currently I have six different 10 & signal codes for the agencies in the region.. and it gets a little confusing... Maybe a clear language with certain common words used may not be bad... have not really formed an opinion yet. Basic policy in interagency and disaster communication is plain language, which has been adopted by quite a few agencies fo those events in this area.

 

[poltergeisty]

My same thoughts. I actually called the pd about what this and this code was :lol: and told me they couldn't because of the need for making sure that the suspect dose not know what he has coming for him.

I was fortunate however to get the answers from an officer when I had busted some people.

I think -APCO- needs to reavaluate their own acronym when they talk of this. ( ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS ) Safety? Ya right. Not with the 10 code issue. Here, let them know what you think. http://www.apcointl.org/contact.html

Apco has been pushing this for years. I think it is stupid. There are times when you dont want the person you are with to know. For Example we have 1055 gang banger, 1056 communicable disease (aids), 1054 felony wanted and so on.

 

[N_Jay]

I think -APCO- needs to reavaluate their own acronym when they talk of this. ( ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS ) Safety? Ya right. Not with the 10 code issue. Here, let them know what you think. http://www.apcointl.org/contact.html

Maybe you should join before you whine?

 

[Skylab]

Just like Q-codes, 10-codes are necessary during poor reception conditions. Hence the use for phonetics. :roll:

 

[Grog]

Just like Q-codes, 10-codes are necessary during poor reception conditions. Hence the use for phonetics. :roll:

New for 2006, The 700mhz HT with CW keyer built in :lol:

 

[Joseph11]

Just like Q-codes, 10-codes are necessary during poor reception conditions. Hence the use for phonetics. :roll:

New for 2006, The 700mhz HT with CW keyer built in :lol:

I'd like to hear some RTTY on 700 and 800 MHz.

 

[PJH]

Re: reason for this

Huh?

When it comes down to intra or multi-agency responses, plain english is used anyways (for the most part).

I have yet to see a grant application come across my desk that had something like this as a requirement to get a grant.

The fire service for at least 10 years now has been moving to a plain english type system for firefighter safety..and its just the way we operate. "Tell me what you mean". EMS for the most part never really went one way or another...but they have always been closer to plain english than anyone else for the longest time... EMS in realitive terms is the youngest of emergency services and didn't really take off until after the Vietnam War and the introduction of paramedics.

Cops have used codes/meanings since the dawn of radio. Its just a way of life and also the attidude of "Its always been that way so why change it". Now, many adminstrators have picked up on the fire service way of doing things, and codes are going out the door.

the whole reason EMS and Law is going plain talk is because in order to be eligble for new homland security grants and stuff, you have have to be nims intergrated compliant. the idea behind this is that no matter what agency in no matter what part of the country, they will all understand eachother. i know a lot of cops are pissed by it but it makes it so much better.

 

[Declared_Hostile]

Back when I used a police radio on a daily basis I found 10 codes simply faster for communicating. Less time tying up the radio.