Replacement With Plain Language
As of 2011, ten-codes remain in common use, but have been phased out in some areas in favor of plain language. Nineteen states were planning to change to plain English as of the end of 2009.
10-4 does not mean yes, and only means "understood" "acknowledged" or "ok". Official 10 codes
Codes are often used inefficiently. For instance, an exchange that could be "1 Mike 1, 10-20?" "First and Main" might be more like "1 Mike 1, what's your 10-20?" "My 20 is First and Main"—it would be more efficient to simply ask, "1 Mike 1, where are you?" "I'm at First and Main." On the other hand, there are times when the use of codes is appropriate, even if less efficient than speaking "in the clear". For instance, using discreet codes for sexual assault, homicide, suicide and other such situations can prevent the victim and family from having to hear the description being broadcast to all within earshot. Even when the meaning is known, it is less of an emotional jolt to hear a set of numbers being rattled off than to hear plain-speech terms for the trauma.
While ten-codes were intended to be a terse, concise, and standardized system, the proliferation of different meanings may render them useless in situations where people from different agencies and jurisdictions need to communicate. For that reason their use is expressly forbidden in the nationally-standardized Incident Command System as is the use of other codes.
In the fall of 2005, responding to inter-organizational communication problems during the rescue operations after Hurricane Katrina, the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) discouraged the use of ten-codes and other codes due to their wide variation in meaning. The Department of Homeland Security's SAFECOM program, established in response to communication problems experienced during the September 11 attacks also advises local agencies on how and why to transition to plain language. The New Orleans Police Department continued using 10-codes as of 2010. One solution to the inter-jurisdictional problem would be to establish a universal standard for the most common 10-codes and disallow any others.
Read more about this topic: Ten-code
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