That's a 10-4 on Plain Language for Cops...

[TruckDriver]

I got this off my Yahoo home page;

OWENSBORO, Ky. - The days of hearing "10-4" and other law enforcement jargon on the police radio are coming to an end.

Emergency responders around the country must switch to using plain language by October 2006, as part of the National Incident Management System, which was developed to help different agencies work together in response to emergency situations.

"It makes so much sense," said Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain, whose department is planning on using plain language starting next month. "Common language is common language."

Signal and "10 codes" were originally implemented by law enforcement agencies and emergency responders primarily to keep talk on the radio brief. Although many of the codes are the same for different departments, there are no standardized definitions, which could lead to confusion when different departments work together.

In September 2004, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security notified governors of the development of the National Incident Management System, and that complying with that system would be required to secure federal emergency preparedness funding.

In August, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is overseeing compliance, issued a directive requiring the use of plain language, or at least a good-faith effort to implement plain language, by October 2006 to be eligible for homeland security grant money.

Owensboro Police Chief John Kazlauskas said his department has been taking the necessary steps to meet the requirements, which include having each member of the department complete a test on the system.

"It seems very simple, but getting everyone to use the same specific word for an incident can be complicated," Kazlauskas said. "It's going to be a learning process for people who have been using 10 codes for their whole careers."

[Charger_Fan]

"It's going to be a learning process for people who have been using 10 codes for their whole careers."

Man, that's for sure!

I always thought that kind of jargin was always used throughout the law enforcement systems...I guess not.

[451-74Charger]

ypu know why KY use the 10 codes, ' cause thats all they can count up to on both hands 

[Wakko]

This is the stupidest idea ever, as far as an officer safety issue.  Let's see...I'm out with a bad motorscooter and I'm waiting for my backup.  I'm on our teletype channel seeing if this guy has any warrants.  If the guy hears  "11C5, 10-65 10-35?"  "10-4, 10-25"  "Possible 10-99 reference 10-31 10-37, Signal 41 signal 0." he might not know what's going on and still play it cool.   If it's in PLAIN language, he's gonna hear "11C5, can you copy some confidential information?" "Go ahead, I'm right here with him."  "He's got a possible warrant for battery on a law enforcement officer and armed robbery."   Well, he knows for SURE that his cover is blown and either the fight or the chase will be ON.   Plus, plain language DOES take ALOT longer to use than 10 codes and signals and allows us some discretion on scene. 

If we need to switch to common language in an emergency, I think it'd be pretty easy to do on an AS NEED basis.  Damned morons making decisions for things that they know NOTHING about. 

[Mefirst]

Bureaucrats and politicians should be allowed to make any kind of decisions about things they dont know anything.. Sadly that will never happen..