PATROL VEHICLE RADIO

[Music] it All Began in Detroit Michigan 1928 with the first police radio broadcasting station and a radio patrol car equipped like this complete with roof antenna It could only receive it couldn't answer back 742 1020 the technology has come a long way since but the effectiveness of police radio is still dependent on how well the dispatcher and the patrol car officer cooperate and use this important tool for law enforcement okay patrol car radios differ a bit but their operation is simple enough there are a few common slip-ups keep the microphone a good 2 in from your mouth to avoid Distortion and talk across it at about an angle of 45° so your breath won't hiss Sam John Edward 772 don't forget to turn up the volume if you've had a reason to cut it down and keep your squel control adjusted right through your shift to clean up background noise recile 1029 not available 7l 5214 Colorado I'm passing [Music] here if there's a lot of noise around or if the sound be becomes too much the microphone against your larynx will carry the message in your normal voice Dodge D dark brown over Brown East Brown on Green from Los Robos so much for how you say it let's find the problems in what you say have a habit of giving out apparent code fors as a dispatcher I would like to know if it is a code for it makes quite a difference if you have an parent you don't know really if it they need more assistance or not you can have an officer run 26 subjects they're uh taking up more air time than necessary they could either go to a red phone and call records for that hello dispatcher this officer men I like to run a 28 on four subjects when ready to copy okay subject number one last name of Jones first name of Samuel officers I realize sometimes the air is busy but they'll go to frequency too sometimes and go traffic well if the dispatcher is busy she can't copy them we like to know their location when they're out of the car 223 what is your location 223 what is your location 2 h23 what is your location [Applause] 223 allb 1098 b459 residential report 223 traffic was covered by another unit please repeat L be 1098 it'll be a 459 residential report also if they have been out of their car when they go back in service 108 they should tell the dispatcher and listen for radio traffic and not cover other units that might have emergency traffic at that time just a couple minutes listen to it I would say also that the officers Rush their mics they Mumble they talk too fast they they have a problem too because they have to get out and make contact with the person but if they can wait you know just a minute a number of problems evolv daily between dispatchers and officers in the field a common understanding of the problems will minimize the difficulties and help the overall efficiency of both departments involved I prepared a list of the most common problems personality conflicts dispatcher versus police officer first of all the most important is it affects the safety of the officer secondly it affects the cooperation and the efficiency of the dispatcher if you feel you've got a gripe against a dispatcher don't argue on the air pick it up with the supervisor when you get back to the station if it's a case of WR information it could well have come from the desk or someone else I think somebody stole my car can you describe it for me yeah it's a black Chevy 72 four-door uh licens J jtm 361 okay you excuse me a minute the lack of field information is another problem Unit 32 uh citizen reports his black Chevrolet stolen license number of John Tom Mary 361 reest model 104 the year the car is a 1972 and it's the four-door 472 four remember that the only way your dispatcher can fully understand a situation is if you radio in all important details the same goes for information requests let the dispatcher know everything you need to know so she doesn't have to ask you questions brevity is an art it's probably the hardest thing to acquire superflous radio language complicates its situation code usage or a few well chosen words will expedite it 6 B5 suspect fleeing on foot eastbound on garbage male white adult be with an injured party some departments prefer to use only a few of the better known codes like the 10 code properly used it can save valuable Air Time 228 104 1022 the 1017 that's your 1020 284 code usage sometimes is overplayed an officer will say he's 106 which means busy he doesn't say on what it could be busy going out of the city it could be busy on a traffic stop it could be busy being totally away from the radio unit 6 5 what is your location unit 6ul five what is your location lengthy absences from your car without phoning or radioing in can mean tying up another unit to see if you're okay unit 6 five acknowledge unit 6 five acknowledge and so can a minor accident your involved and if you don't let the dispatcher know that it isn't serious and you don't need any emergency help to 31 can I have the numbers again on West Colorado for the burglary repeat requests are another common everyday problem it results in an excessive amount of airtime or another unit might have emergency traffic You're simply getting a repeat of something that has been put out very clearly you are not monitoring your radio get your phonetic alphabet down pat a for Adam B for boy C for Charles Etc to avoid all the waste of time and confusion that misspelling can cause 223 I'd like to verify an address on a Gary a Bennett driver's license number PA 77157 no current R sold 6973 but whatever and whenever you're communicating in mind the pressure the dispatchers can be under what may seem to you to be a simple enough inquiry may require the radio operator to seek out several different sources for the information requested and meanwhile other calls can be demanding the operator's attention so don't be impatient if you don't get your answer in a hurry 142 Royal Parkway 142 and for the same reason don't make inquiries you can answer yourself like finding the location of a street on a map yourself instead of laying the job on the dispatcher 2 31 in Pursuit we're now South on St John approaching delmare in excess of 50 and if you need assistance or tactical interception on a hot chase the dispatcher can't do much for you unless you keep reporting change of Direction and naming Straits and landmarks we're now eastbound on delmare approaching pass downoad we're now North on Pasadena from delmare nor on pasaden from delmare 6 two vehicles at the location one be and really important remember your radio is really like a Partyline telephone shared by others make sure it's clear before you start broadcasting hold the mic button down for second or so to allow the transmitter to reach Peak out follow your Department's procedures in requesting a vehicle make giving a suspect's description or any other type of broadcast that has been standardized it will get your answer a lot faster and more dependably no W 7l 524b traffic perro South California proper use of the patrol car radio it's not as easy as the ABCs but they still apply a for accuracy B for brevity C for Courtesy put them together and you've got the kind of radio teamwork that pays off [Music]