English… As A Second Language

If it was a fad, it lasted more than 80 years.

It is the “cop code,”….10-4 and all that jazz.

The Associated Press reported last week that the Virginia State Police will be dropping the old-fashioned “10-codes” and switching to plain English upon the suggestion of Homeland Security Department personnel who want communications improved so that different agencies can work together better. Their charge is that many departments have developed their own codes, which can cause confusion among various agencies answering an emergency.

More and more local law enforcement agencies are expected to begin following suit in order to simplify the learning curve for dispatchers while giving federal officers common irrefutable terminology so that they don