By CHELYEN DAVIS and BILL FREEHLING
In Virginia police-speak, a 10-50 means a motor vehicle accident. But in Montgomery County, Md., 10-50 means "officer in trouble."
In a disaster that required law enforcement from both places to work together, there would be confusion.
So the Federal Emergency Management Agency is encouraging police and other emergency organizations nationwide to give up the numerical codes known as the "10-codes" that they use to communicate with each other and with dispatchers.
In May, FEMA issued a directive known as the National Incident Management System. It involves an array of new training and procedures with which police departments across the country will have comply. But part of NIMS involves the eventual phasing out of the 10-codes.
Instead of saying 10-50 for an accident, FEMA wants law enforcement officers to simply say they're at an accident scene.
"It comes down to common terminology, plain language, plain English that everyone can understand," said Don Jacks, FEMA spokesman. "It's the language that we use. If there's a bank robbery, we want the police to say, 'There's a bank robbery at First and Main' instead of, 'There's a 10-50'."
The idea is to create a system under which all police and emergency personnel can understand each other, and reduce confusion in emergency situations that involve numerous jurisdictions.
Fredericksburg-area police and sheriff departments say they use plain English when possible, but say 10-codes help keep officers safe and sensitive information confidential.
Fredericksburg police spokesman Jim Shelhorse points out that many people use police scanners to monitor emergency communication. Some information doesn't need to go public, Shelhorse said.
"Why would you say on the radio 'There's a drunk on Caroline'?" Shelhorse said. "People don't need to know that."
Jacks, however, said public safety depends on emergency personnel being able to work together.
"We have to look at the safety of all of the individuals who are working as first responders and who are working with the public safety in mind, so everyone can understand what we are responding to and how we are going to respond," Jacks said.
Spotsylvania County Sheriff Howard Smith said the vast majority of people who listen to scanners are law-abiding, but police worry about the criminal element who listens for the wrong reason.
He said using codes prevents some information from getting out. He added that his office plans to start using encrypted communication, so the public won't be able to hear the chatter.
Smith and Shelhorse said codes can be useful during traffic stops. For example, Smith said, what if the driver is wanted on a murder charge?
If that driver hears an emergency dispatcher tell the officer that he's a fugitive, he might attempt to flee or hurt the officer. But he likely wouldn't know the meaning of a code relaying that same information.
Smith added that local law-enforcement agencies don't like being told what to do by an outside department.
Smith did say codes have drawbacks--for example it takes awhile to teach new officers to learn them all. It can also be hard for multiple agencies to work together, since codes typically differ a bit.
But Smith said Spotsylvania has successfully worked with numerous agencies on the same case, most recently during the sniper shootings.
In that case, he said, officers from state, local and federal agencies were given Spotsylvania emergency radios and lists of the county's 10-codes.
Smith said department members don't always use 10-codes when they could. For example, they don't call a fight a 10-10. They just say fight.
Shelhorse said that's true in the city as well: "I don't have a problem using plain talk where and when you can."
The Virginia State Police use codes, and will continue to do so until they get official word from FEMA that they're to stop, said spokeswoman Corrine Geller.
"We've not received any directive or any kind of documentation from FEMA concerning the phase-out of the brevity codes, the 10 codes," Geller said. "The superintendent is aware of these recommendations [but] we'll continue to use them until we're notified by FEMA."
Bob Spieldenner, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, said that agency uses plain English anyway, so isn't really affected.
However, he added, Gov. Mark Warner has signed off on the NIMS requirements, promising that the state will comply with the national standards.
Shelhorse said FEMA is asking a lot of local agencies to do away with codes by next September.
"It's very difficult to take something that's ingrained and say, 'You've got to change this by next year,'" Shelhorse said.
Jacks said FEMA recognizes that. What the agency wants, he said, is for police departments to show they're working toward becoming compliant with the NIMS requirements--including the part about using plain English.
"We want them to be working toward becoming compliant and becoming compliant is using common terminology, common language," Jacks said. "We know they won't be eliminated by October 2006. But our goal is good-faith efforts to be able to change the way first responders communicate."
Jacks added that local police departments will not lose federal money by not complying with the new regulations. However, he said, by next year departments that apply for grants will have to note that they are or are not working toward being compliant with NIMS. If they're not, he said, "we might look at them with askance. They may not get a grant over someone who said 'yes, we're going to become NIMS compliant.'"
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