![]() ![]() "You'll occasionally hear POS, especially in describing a vehicle," Birr said. Some even have overlap with common English. Listen to the scanner enough, and you'll likely be able to figure out through context what many of the common acronyms stand for. They found they wasted about one hour of airtime in a 24-hour day." "But many of the agencies also got rid of the 12 codes. "A lot of agencies do still use 12 codes," Birr continued. it would end up repeating everything that was said. It would come across, 5-87, you'd answer 5-87 17th and Market, then 5-87 minor injuries, two vehicles. "It actually didn't save any air time, it wasted air time. ![]() "But what they found was that it wasted air time," he said. For example, a 12-60 was code for a homicide, and a 12-21 was an injury. "They changed it now, so it's an officer's discretion to decide based on the circumstances which code is necessary."īirr also said it used to be in the early 1980s that Salem Police used 12 codes. "It used to be, years ago, that dispatchers actually gave you your response code," Birr said. But there have been some changes within the department over time. To eliminate all this confusion, we’ve listed every police scanner code used by officers below. If you don’t understand these things, you won’t get the full use out of your device. Many of these codes are universal among law enforcement agencies, Birr said. Things like Code blue and 10-7 might have you scratching your head. "They go into not wanting to convey something to somebody in the midst of committing a crime," he explained. Birr wasn't willing to disclose what either of those codes referred to. But I can't say I've heard a Code 5 or a Code 6 come across the scanner. ![]() And Code 3 means respond with emergency lights and sirens."Īs a reporter, I've learned through experience what Codes 1 through 4 mean. "Code 2 means drive directly, but if you see someone do something crazy in front of you, you could still do a traffic stop. "Code 1 means get there whenever you get there," Birr explained. Then there are Codes 1 through 3, called response codes, that dictate the manner in which an officer responds to a particular location. There's also Code 4, which essentially signals a situation is under control. A Code 9 asks all other officers to stay off the air so a particular situation has full, unrestricted use of the radio. Code 9, for instance, signals that radio air is restricted to just those officers who are on a particular call. Then there are the number codes, some of which are more common than others. But there are others that are fairly common, such as UTL (unable to locate) or ATL (attempt to locate) or GOA (gone on arrival). "The codes are just to keep quiet what police are up to, not to misinform the public."įor obvious reasons, Birr declined to disclose some of those acronyms and their meanings. Steve Birr, who heads up the criminal investigations unit with Salem Police. "We have a couple of acronyms to describe a situation so criminals aren't aware of what we're talking about," explained Lt. Sometimes it spares an officer a mouthful of words, or it can help keep movements quiet and furtive in dangerous situations. Law enforcement use scanner codes for a number of useful purposes. If you're unfamiliar with it, scanner chatter rapidly descends into a jumble of codes, numbers and acronyms. Police have it, broadcast every day on the scanner. ![]() Step into our newsroom and you'll hear us throw around words like "slug" and "header," "refer" and "infobox" and even "Presto" (regrettably, not before we pull rabbits from hats). Penal codes may also be exclusive to some departments like fire, emergency services, and the like.We journalists have it. Police scanner penal codes are formulated to keep communications fast and efficient. Under attack, immediate assistance required! Intensive attention: high hazard, business areas Office being followed by auto dangerous persons ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |