SheriffBadgeGenericA lot of people like listening to the scanner, and keeping an ear on the happenings in their area.  Whether they listen to local police, sheriff, fire departments, ambulances, or other emergency services, often times it can be challenging to understand what is going on.  Codes and abbreviations can obscure the meanings of various transmissions, making the action difficult to follow.  I’ve compiled a short list of the most common codes used at my agency, and if you listen, you’ll definitely hear me use them.  I usually put up a notice on Facebook which channel I’m working, so if you ‘friend’ me there, you’ll know when I’m on, and on which channel.

Here’s the lowdown on channels you can monitor from the Internet:

Channel 1 – Primary south county channel.  This covers county areas around Lindsay, Strathmore, Porterville, Lake Success, the mountain areas including Springville, Camp Nelson, Ponderosa, Johnsondale, the Kern River area, California Hot Springs, Posey, and Kennedy Meadows.  Back on the valley floor, Terra Bella, Ducor, Richgrove, Earlimart, Teviston, Pixley, Tipton, Alpaugh, Allensworth, and the southwest part of Tulare county near Corcoran and Delano.

Channel 2 – Primary north county channel.  Coverage is Tulare, Visalia, Goshen, New London, Traver, Kingsburg, Dinuba, Delft Colony, Sultana, Yettem, Cutler-Orosi, Ivanhoe, Woodlake, Farmersville, Exeter, Lemon Cove, Lindcove, Kaweah Lake, Three Rivers, and mountain areas north of approximately Avenue 232.

You can monitor Channel one here.
Monitor channel two here.

You can also listen on your smart phones, on various scanner apps.  I use 5-0 Radio, and Scanner 911 on my iPhone.

After the jump, you’ll find the codes we use the most frequently.

These are the most prominent codes you’ll hear while monitoring the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department.  There are others that will pop up from time to time, but these will cover most circumstances:

10-1    Receiving poorly
10-2    Receiving well
10-4    Acknowledge
10-5    Message relayed by  (do not contact)
10-6    Busy
10-7    Out of service
10-8    In service
10-9    Repeat last transmission
10-10   Fight in progress
10-12   Stand by
10-13   Weather report
10-17   Contact reporting party
10-19   Base, headquarters, or office
10-20   Location
10-21   Phone
10-22   Disregard
10-23   Arrived on scene
10-24   Completed assignment
10-25   Meet with
10-27   Driver license check
10-28   Vehicle registration check
10-29   Warrants or wants
10-33   Emergency
10-36   Time
10-37   Suspicious vehicle (parked)
10-38   Traffic stop on a vehicle
10-41   Begin tour of duty
10-42   End tour of duty
10-50   Traffic accident
10-59   Non-prisoner passenger (often just ’59’)
10-63   Prepare to copy
10-76   Enroute
10-89   Bomb threat
10-95   Prisoner (often just ’95’)
1144     Deceased person
1199     Officer needs help

Code 2    Expedite, but no lights or siren
Code 3    Lights and siren
Code 4    No further assistance needed
Code 5    Stake-out, or watching a location
Code 7    Meal break
Code 8    Radio channel restricted to emergency incident
Code 9    Radio channel returned to normal operation
Code 11  Community relations
Code 30  No warrants or wants
Code 32  Shows active warrants (Code 32F = Felony warrant)

415       Disturbance (noise, music, minor fights)
211        Armed robbery
242       Assault
245       Assault with deadly weapon
261       Rape
261.5    Statutory rape
288       Child molest
10851   Stolen vehicle
23152   Drunk driver
23153   Reckless driver
H&S     Drug related (Health and Safety code)
11550   Under the influence of controlled substance
187      Homicide
664-    Prefix for ‘attempted’, i.e. 664-187
BOL    ‘Be on the lookout’
836     Authority to arrest before a warrant is issued
459     Burglary
594     Vandalism
488     Petty theft
487     Grand theft
460     Home invasion
417     Brandishing a firearm
317     Indecent exposure
273A  Child abuse
273D  Corporal punishment of a child
368     Elder abuse
374.3  Trash dumping
475     Fraud (bad checks)
290    Sex crime registrant
273.5  Domestic violence
243E1  Misdemeanor spousal abuse
If you hear us use other codes, drop me a note, and I’ll add them to the list.

And if you want to hear us live, over the radio, set your scanners in the Tulare County area to 453.475 for channel 1, and 453.650 for channel 2.  Channel 3 is 453.850. (Channel 3 is where we run warrant and license checks.  I don’t know of anyone who puts it up on the internet.  If you know someone who is, please send me the link!)