Police Radio Terms

When you listen to scanners, you may encounter some words and jargon that may seem difficult to understand. Here are some police radio terms and what they mean.

The Hundred Code

Most of the time, law enforcement officers use codes when speaking on the radio. The Hundred Code is a code system that is used by most police officers in the US. Note that there are variations depending on the state.

187: Homicide
207A: Kidnapping attempt
207: Kidnapping
211A: Robbery alarm
211: Robbery
213: Use of illegal explosives
242: Battery
240: Assault
217: Assault with intent to murder
261: Rape
246: Shooting at inhabited dwelling
245: Assault with a deadly weapon
273A: Child neglect
261A: Attempted rape
288: Lewd conduct
273D: Domestic violence (felony)
374B: Illegal dumping
406: Breaking and Entering
390D: Drunk, unconscious
390: Drunk
653M: Threatening phone calls
647: Lewd conduct (various subsections)
604: Throwing missiles
594: Malicious mischief
510: Racing or speeding vehicles
507: Public nuisance
505A: Reckless driving
504: Tampering with a vehicle
503: Auto theft
487: Grand theft
480: Hit and run – Felony (grave bodily injury or death)
459A: Burglar alarm

The Ten Code

Police radio terms also include the ten code. Some of them are 10-80 for explosion, 10-79 for bomb threat 10-72 for firearms involved. 10-66 is for a suspicious individual and 10-61 for assorted public services.

10-57 is for a missing person, while 10-56 for suicide. 10-53 is the code for man down and 10-45C for critical. 10-43 means to call a medical doctor and 10-29M for subject wanted for misdemeanor charges.

Police 1-37 Codes

Code 6 is for stakeout and code 11 means call the SWAT. Code 37 means the person is wanted and code 4 for assistance no longer needed.

Other Terms

An assist means a cop is going to help other officers in the crime scene. The chart room refers to the mission or briefing room. The coroner’s request means getting a coroner to determine the cause of death.

DB report is a report on a deceased person. ETA stands for estimated time of arrival and get a tracer means to monitor a call. Log in and log out means getting in touch with dispatch.

While these codes are still widely used, some agencies of the government are suggested that these codes be dropped n favor of regular language. Actually these suggestions have been put out back in 2005. Still, these codes remain very popular and still used by numerous law enforcers. It seems unlikely the codes will be dropped anytime soon.

These are just some of the police radio terms you will likely come across as you tune in to your scanner. By being familiar with the jargon, you will never have to get confused about the stuff you are hearing.

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