For a year now, there has been a movement underway to abandon the old 10-code system that cops use on their police radios. You know, when "10-4" means, "OK, I understood your message." Some departments use up to 100 codes -- so it can be complex.
The Washington Post reported the story of how Virginia is making the transition to plain language radio transmissions.
Here is a story from NPR back from the time when FEMA started pushing for the change. Here is a story from NBC's "Nightly News with Brian Williams" last week. London's The Guardian explains:
The change was prompted in part by the police response to disasters such as the 9/11 attacks. When police from several local departments rushed to the Pentagon, they found that they did not share a common language with each other or with other agencies such as the FBI.
"Local police were talking 10 codes. So were the Pentagon police. The FBI have their own little 10 codes," Arlington fire department captain Richard Slusher told The Washington Post. "You didn't know what they were talking about."
So while a 10-54 means livestock on highway to Virginia state police, to those in Alexandria County a 10-54 is code for a breathalyzer. And while a 10-13 may be a request for a wrecker in nearby Montgomery County, in Alexandria it is the more alarming message that an officer is in trouble.
The confusion reached crisis point during last year's Hurricane Katrina disaster when FEMA decided to ditch the 10-codes because of the variations in meaning.
The 10-code system dates from the 1930s, when police had just one radio channel and time on air was at a premium. So they devised a system of verbal shorthand to enable them to convey information in the shortest time possible.
A 1940 meeting of the police communication officers' standards committee first tried to impose some order on the already unruly system.
While some signals, such as 10-4 for acknowledgement, have remained in use, others have been lost.
In 1940 a 10-24 meant "Trouble at station -- unwelcome visitors -- all units vicinity report at once". Today a 10-24 is more likely to mean "assignment completed." And while a 10-82 was a request to "reserve room with bath for officer" to a 1940s radio controller, today it could equally mean traffic signal out or stop for interrogation/arrest.
Some police forces developed separate call code systems to avoid the confusion. The California Highway Patrol, for example, has [an] 11-code (11-99: under attack, immediate assistance required).
Police have defended the old code system because it lets them say a lot in a very short time. FEMA says:
The use of common terminology is about the ability of area commanders, state and local EOC personnel, federal operational coordinators, and responders to communicate clearly with each other and effectively coordinate response activities, no matter what the size, scope or complexity of the incident. The ability of responders from different jurisdictions and different disciplines to work together depends greatly on their ability to communicate with each other.
It is required that plain English be used for multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction and multi-discipline events, such as major disasters and exercises. Beginning in the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1, 2006, federal preparedness grant funding is contingent on the use of plain English in incidents requiring assistance from responders from other agencies, jurisdictions and functional disciplines.
Here are some of the more common codes. There could, of course, be regional or local variations. It is those variation that cause so much confusion when departments have to talk with one another.
Rhodes Scholars Announced
Thirty-two men and women from across the United States have been named Rhodes Scholars for 2007 by The Rhodes Trust. Here is a list of the winners with descriptions of their backgrounds. With the holidays here, there is a good chance you will find one at home near you.
The Associated Press says:
The scholars were selected from 896 applicants endorsed by 340 colleges and universities. The scholarships, the oldest of the international study awards available to American students, provide two or three years of study. The students will enter Oxford University in England next October.
InfoPlease notes:
Famous American Rhodes scholars include NBA Hall of Famer and former presidential candidate Bill Bradley; writer/educator Alain Locke; singer/songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson; diplomat Strobe Talbott, who helped negotiate an end to the war in Yugoslavia in 1999; and former president Bill Clinton.
A University of California-Irvine Web page that tracks scholarships explains:
Who wins: The official selection criteria are "(1) literary and scholastic attainments; (2) fondness for and success in sports; (3) truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship; (4) moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one's fellow beings."
Winners typically have outstanding academic and extracurricular records, are leaders in their university and (possibly) larger communities, show an inclination to serve others, and display "physical vigor" or a taste for sports.
Check Those Tires
You most likely change your car's oil, check the brakes and top off fluids regularly. But don't forget to check your tire pressure. Tires are not airtight and can lose up to 2 pounds of pressure per square inch every month, according to the Rubber Association of Canada's Web site.
A 2001 study by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says:
[...] 27 percent of passenger cars on U.S. roadways are driven with one or more substantially under-inflated tires. In addition, the survey found that 33 percent of light trucks (including sport utility vehicles, vans and pickup trucks) are driven with one or more substantially under-inflated tires.
Cold weather also decreases pressure. So as you travel north or to the mountains, you may leave home with fine pressure and find out your tires are under-inflated later. CarCare.org says:
Tires will lose about 1 [p.s.i.] of pressure for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit of temperature drop.
Not only will improperly inflated tires cost you gas mileage, they can be a safety problem, too.
Adding to your problems is the notorious inaccuracy of gas station and car wash air pressure gauges. So purchase your own -- and don't be cheap; buy a good one. Ford Motor Company recommends a digital or dial-type gauge, not the stick-type one that you often see gas station attendants using.
Don't trust your eyes to tell you if the tire is properly inflated. A tire could be 10 p.s.i. low on pressure and not appear to be low on air. It might even be interesting to do a field test of local gas station pressure gages to see how far off they are.
The 2001 NHTSA report says:
[...] 14 percent of gas stations are either not equipped with air pumps or have malfunctioning pumps. Also, only 49 percent of gas stations that are equipped with air pumps provide tire pressure gauges, which are critical to determining if the correct amount of air has been delivered to tires. However, for a nominal price, motorists can purchase a tire pressure gauge.
The report also says:
- Nearly 20 percent of the stations providing customers with tire pressure gauges on their air pumps use gauges that over-report the pressure present in a tire by at least 4 [p.s.i.] (pounds per square inch) or more. (This means that motorists who use such gauges in the belief that they are inflating their tires to the recommended pressure would, in fact, be under-inflating them by 4 [p.s.i.] or more.)
- At the pressure levels that are typical for most passenger cars or SUVs, nearly 10 percent of gas station air pump gauges over-report by 6 [p.s.i.] or more.
How do you know the correct tire pressure for your car? If it was built after 2003, there is a placard somewhere on the vehicle. Otherwise, look on the tire sidewall.
CorrectTirePressure.ca points out some of the most common placard places -- driver-side front door, fuel-filler door and the sun visor.
Driving Fatigue
You may be tempted to keep driving tomorrow, even if you are too tired to do so safely. Drowsiness accounts for more than 1,500 auto-related deaths per year nationwide, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Click here to see a graphic of who falls asleep behind the wheel most often and how widespread the problem is.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than one-half of adult drivers (roughly 100 million people) say they've driven a vehicle in the past year while feeling drowsy. Almost two in 10 people (about 32 million) have actually fallen asleep at the wheel.
The Sleep Foundation said:
People tend to fall asleep more on high-speed, long, straight, boring, rural highways. And studies show that most crashes or near misses occur during three times of the day -- between midnight-2:00 a.m., 4:00-6:00 a.m. and 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Whether you're getting behind the wheel for a short drive to work, a leisurely day trip, or a longer drive to a vacation retreat, NSF has a simple message for you: don't get behind the wheel if you are feeling sleepy. Plan ahead. Get a good night's sleep the night before your trip.
Fatigue or drowsiness can occur while you're on the road; it's important to recognize these warning signs:
- Difficulty focusing, frequent blinking or heavy eyelids
- Trouble keeping your head up
- Trouble remembering the last few miles driven
- Missing exits or traffic signs
- Drifting from your lane, tailgating, or hitting shoulder rumble strips
If you do become drowsy while driving, NSF warns you not to test your fatigue, even for a few miles. Stop driving! Remember these other tips:
- Pull off the road in a safe, well-lighted area, drink a caffeinated beverage or energy drink.
- Take a 15- to 20-minute nap. It takes about 30 minutes for the caffeine to work, so taking a nap while you wait for the caffeine to kick in can also help restore alertness.
- Don't try tricks such as opening a window or blasting a radio to improve alertness. They won't work!
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected. There’s a handy website out there that lists codes for...
