By Lomi Kriel
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2007 San Antonio Express-News
All Rights Reserved
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — These days, law enforcement 10-codes are pretty much 10-7. That is, not in service. 10-4?
Declaring the codes made famous by cop shows like “Hill Street Blues” confusing and impractical, federal officials want them canceled — or 10-10ed in San Antonio, and 10-22ed in Bexar County.
And that, officials say, is the crux of the problem. Over the years, law enforcement agencies have individualized the codes, which hail from the 1920s when the need for brevity on cluttered radio frequencies was fierce. But they now vary so widely that a request for a meal break in one jurisdiction can mean an assault in another.
The 9-11 attacks, compounded by the Hurricane Katrina disaster, underscored the need for efficient communication among law enforcement agencies. By October, agencies will forgo federal grants if they haven’t switched to plain English when working on emergencies with other departments.
But law enforcement agencies in Bexar County, following suit with much of the rest of the country, have decided to just 10-26 (switch to another channel) and use “clear-text communication” all the time.
“We want them to start using plain speech all the time so when we respond to critical incidents, the officers don’t have to think about it,” said Robert Adelman, public safety communications manager for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office who oversaw his agency’s shift.
The Sheriff’s Office made the switch a few months ago and the San Antonio Police Department began phasing in the transition on Jan. 1. As of Feb. 1, SAPD’s 10-codes will officially be no more. The San Antonio Fire Department nixed its 10-codes in November and other local law enforcement agencies, such as the Windcrest Police Department, changed more than six months ago.
“We figured we might as well do it now,” Windcrest Police Chief Lori Harris said.
Some, like the Schertz Police Department, haven’t used 10-codes for a decade. Covering parts of three counties, it’s almost a poster child for the problems raised by the system.
“It just became too complicated, essentially, to deal with,” said police spokesman Brad Bailey.
Yet some departments, such as Austin and Citrus County, Fla., are sticking to their guns, or rather, codes. For many, the idea of losing something as intertwined with police culture as badges and handcuffs is “receiving poorly” (10-1.)
“It’s like if you tell Hispanics, ‘You are forbidden to speak Spanish in this country,”’ said Tim Dees, a former police officer and current editor-in-chief of Officer.com, a Maryland-based Web site. “It’s part of the culture, and being part of that culture is one of the things that’s special about being a cop.”
Scanner chatter indicates the transition will take some time.
An SAPD officer recently posed a simple question to a dispatcher: “Ma’am,” he said, “We’re 10-8 and myself and 6262 are requiring a 10-22.”
“Excuse me?” the dispatcher said.
“Oh, yes ma’am. I’m in service, can I get a 22, uh, I mean a dinner break with 6262?”
9-11 Commission
Difficulties during 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina brought to the forefront what many first responders have known for decades.
Adelman, of the Sheriff’s Office, recounted an anecdote from years ago when the department, trying to align some of its codes with area agencies, changed what was then the code for a family disturbance in progress to signify a request for a meal break.
Shortly afterward, a deputy who was known to favor dinner at McDonald’s told his dispatcher he was at the fast-food restaurant and requesting a 10-16.
“10-4,” the dispatcher replied.
Again, the officer came on the radio. The dispatcher concurred.
The officer, now a little more excited, radioed a third time.
“Officer, you’re clear,” the harried dispatcher replied.
Finally, the deputy shouted: “I’m out with a 10-16, a family disturbance in progress at the McDonald’s.”
“It’s easy to be a nightmare,” Adelman said. Using plain language, on the other hand, “is very clear. There’re no mistakes.”
When the codes were created, radio frequencies were more limited, thus allowing less on-air time than today. To curb unnecessary communication, the Association of Public-Safety Communications issued a standardized list of 10-codes. But like language, it quickly flowered.
Consider: San Antonio’s police and fire departments and the county Sheriff’s Office all had different 10-codes, with about 100 each. In some jurisdictions, such as in California, officers have 10-, 11-, and 12-codes.
After recommendations from the 9-11 Commission, the Department of Homeland Security created the National Incident Management System to ensure better communication between jurisdictions in large-scale emergencies.
Part of that included phasing out the 10-codes, a feat that few have accomplished on a statewide level.
Virginia, one of the first states to do so, picked several law enforcement officials to study the issue for months and dedicated a division of the governor’s office to the issue. By October, 10-codes were off the radio.
Since 2003, the Homeland Security Department has also awarded $2.9 billion to improve state and local interoperable communications efforts. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a news release last week he will continue pushing to close the gaps in the communications in major urban cities by the end of 2008.
Interoperability also includes ensuring area law enforcement agencies have the same training standards and that common protocol exists when handling a large incident.
District Fire Chief Nim Kidd, in charge of emergency management for San Antonio, cited Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as success stories for local law enforcement officials who had to handle scores of evacuees while corresponding with statewide law enforcement agencies.
A potentially disastrous January 2006 brush fire that threatened San Antonio city limits also was averted thanks to unified command systems and clear-text communication, Kidd said, both of which made safety “more achievable.”
Tough transition
Confidentiality for police matters was another idea behind the creation of the 10-codes.
But as scanners have become more readily available — with some Radio Shacks offering tip sheets for local agency codes and translations widely circulated on the Internet — that has largely become historical lore.
“People know what they mean,” said Chris Essid, Virginia’s first Commonwealth Interoperability Coordinator. “And if you listen to the scanners, it’s not too hard to figure out.”
A few 10-codes will stay alive on some airwaves. Locally, police, fire and the Sheriff’s Office have picked about six codes they will keep -- mostly to ensure officer safety. Those include codes for wanted and mentally ill persons as well as bomb threats. They deal with matters in which “we don’t want the public to know exactly what is being said,” District Fire Chief Randy Jenkins said.
Other departments have let even those go. At Windcrest, for example, a 10-99 once indicated a wanted person.
“But we found that some of the bad guys knew what that meant,” said Harris, the chief. Now, officers are instead required to move away to a somewhat secluded spot, such as behind their patrol car, when the dispatcher asks them to “secure the radio,” meaning they have information they don’t want a suspect to hear.
Yet for most officers, especially the veterans, change comes bitterly and with effort.
Television and movies have made 10-codes glamorous. They’re the language of law enforcement, they’re part of tradition, and they’re pretty cool.
“Having that kind of jargon is what sets cops apart from everyone else,” said Dees, of Officer.com.
On a recent afternoon, sheriff’s Deputy Ramiro Sanchez patrolled his district in eastern Bexar County. A few months into the English movement already, Sanchez was by now used to saying, “what’s my location,” instead of asking a dispatcher for his 10-20.
But one gem remains particularly hard to give up.
“10-4 was you acknowledge, 10-4 was you’re OK,” Sanchez said. “It’s faster, and it’s universal.”
And, it has just a little more pizazz than “affirmative.”