But there have been some changes within the department over time. Many of these codes are universal among law enforcement agencies, Birr said. "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).
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