Discuss the need to keep police communication confidential. Ask the cadets reasons why there is a need for a uniform code when communicating with police headquarters and other police officers. Ask them what might happen if there was confusion when delivering a message in an emergency situation. In this unit, you’ll get an introduction to some of the codes. You never know — you may find yourself asking your friends online to go on a “10-12,” or, when you’re done chatting, typing “10-84.”
POLICE COMMUNICATIONS: NO EASY TASK Talking on a police radio isn't the same as talking on the phone. The telephone is duplex, that is, both persons can talk at the same time. That's true with cellular phones, too. But few radios are set up for duplex operation. Radio is simplex. When a police officer speaks into their radio only they are heard by others listening, and they can't hear if someone else tries to transmit at the same time. Communication does not happen unless one person transmits something and another person receives it -- AND UNDERSTANDS IT. It isn't enough to just hear what the other person said. If you don't understand what he said, that's NOT communication. Also consider that a police car can be a noisy environment. It's important that you speak distinctly and enunciate words precisely. THE BEGINNING During the 1920’s, police departments across the country began experimenting with radio as a crime-fighting tool. As criminals were making greater use of automobiles, the police were looking at technology to help keep pace. They investigated the use of the radio to more quickly dispatch officers to where they were needed and several years of testing followed. USING AM RADIO STATIONS The earliest police radio “systems” were simple arrangements with local AM radio broadcasters -- when the police received a call of sufficient importance, they would phone it to the radio station where the announcer or engineer would interrupt the regular program to announce the call…the police cruisers kept their AM car radios tuned to this radio station. Chicago Police, for example, used WGN’s 720-AM facilities for about a year starting in 1929. After about a year they decided this new invention was workable, so they applied to the