Police 10 Codes

Police 10 Codes are signals used by police officers, law enforcement officials, and government agencies to talk in two-way radio communications. The codes are numbers that correspond to words, phrases, and messages that are frequently used in law enforcement work. Variations of the codes are also used by private citizens in Citizen’s Band (CB) radio transmissions.

Police officers are in constant communication with dispatch, other officers, support departments, the local jail, and county correctional facilities and others. The codes help streamline communication and also add an element of secrecy and shield communications from the general public.

Police 10 codes originated in the United States law enforcement community prior to the Second World War. In 1940, the Association of Public Safety Communication Officials (APC) published the first official set of police 10 codes. These radio signals were invented to help reduce the use of speech on the police radio.

In addition, the codes enable a certain amount of privacy to the radio transmissions, as one must know the meaning of the signals to understand the discussion.

There is no truly universal or official set of police 10 codes. The meaning of a particular code or signal can vary between one police jurisdiction and another.

10-1 = Poor reception
10-2 = Good reception
10-3 = Stop transmitting
10-4 = Message received, affirmative, OK
10-5 = Relay this information to (name of a person, officer, etc.)
10-6 = Officer is Busy
10-7 = Out of service, unavailable
10-8 = In-service
10-9 = Please repeat, please repeat the message
10-10 = Negative (no)
10- 11 = Dog case (or other animal)
10-12 = Standby
10-13 = Civilians present and listening
10-14 = Prowler report
10-15 = En route to the station with suspect
10-16 = Domestic problem
10-17 = Meet complainant
10-18 = Urgent matter
10-19 = Return to the station
10-20 = Specify location/my location is (name of location)