InterceptRadio.com Forums

Don't know if anybody else has picked up on this, but I can clearly tell the difference between an Everett police officer, and an SCSO deputy just from their phonetic skills. It's obvious from listening to the phonetic skills of the scso deputies that their training is much better than those of the everett police department. Some of these everett police officers are so slow at the phonetic alphabet that I dont even need to type the names, I can recite them in my head!

One of my friends who works security has a story of an Portland Police Bureau officer who responded to an incident along one of his patrols which when the officer was reading off the spelling of the name, he starting stuttering really really bad, taking at least 15 seconds to say each phonetic.

_________________
Mt Wave SAR member
Support Search & Rescue: Get Lost!
http://www.mwave.org

I heard a UWPD officer use "Howard" for H once. Threw me off for a second.

try flipping back and forth between the federal/aviation/military and the civilian/'normal' one.

_________________
</>

"Run one...Last of "Baker", common spelling; first of "John", middle initial "F" as in Philadelphia..."

==================

What about the old Navy/Corps phonetics? Able, Baker, Cocoa, Dog, Easy, Item, Sugar, Yoke/Yellow, etc? Anyone have the full list for that one, for historical purposes?

ETA: found it- http://home.earthlink.net/~malcolmhamer/alpha.htm

_________________
President-in-Exile, Seattle Area Radio Communications And Scanner Traffic Intercept Crew (SARCASTIC)
Don't feel bad if you can't use your STD100/200; there are still people using Digital Frequency Search!
Bunnery definition for the under-fives

Yeah...I've heard that a few times by fireman who at least around here don't generally need to spell out any names. They will use the NATO/ICAO alphabet instead of the APCO alphabet.

One incident I have heard on the scanner does involve the Portland Fire Bureau. Truck was running full code to a fire and there was this car that for whatever reason, went through an intersection and nearly hit the truck. Someone on board caught the plate to read back to dispatch to be relayed onto PD so they can be given a ticket. He says the plate is "Gloria Sunshine Jerry 5 4 2"

Now, when I ever go visit friends in Toronto, Ontario, every agency in the province uses the NATO alphabet.

_________________
Mt Wave SAR member
Support Search & Rescue: Get Lost!
http://www.mwave.org

Sometimes this whole interoperability thing is too much! We communicate with both civillian and military aircraft, as well as local law enforcement. We have to use both phonetic alphabets which is confusing for some and it often intermingles. Add to that the fact our dispatchers will sometimes "freestyle" for normal communications - "D-dog", "J-juno", etc... :puke:

We had one dispatcher that would only use food references, that was fun :roll:

_________________
"Lawyers, Guns and Money"

After having to switch back and forth I decided;
There are generally more higher priority things
(And I don't mean this in a judgmental/criticism way)
because most of the time it involves:

A: a traffic stop
B: a fire unit running code
C: military stuff
D: aircraft not familiar with the runway


But on the other hand I have heard some weird ones too.

:chaingun:

_________________
</>

You too eh?

I had the FD training, which we used Adam, Boy, Charles.

Then trained in ITU which is Alpha Bravo Charlie...

Because I used FD/PD phonetics so much, the ONLY thing I say in ITU phonetics is my callsign, otherwise it's 'other'..

:D

_________________
Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!

A serious question:

I'm a relatively new volunteer first responder, but was in the Army for a long time - the NATO/ITU alphabet is second nature to me.

We are dispatched by Valleycom. I know that the APCO system is the standard there, but are those dispatchers also trained to understand my strange dialect?

They should understand. There are bigger fish to fry than to harp on someone for not using the 'right' phonetics.
Just don't be slurring.
:beer: :beer:

_________________
</>