Louisville Metro Police Department - Communications

Communications

Louisville Metro Police communicates using radios on both VHF and UHF frequencies, a carryover from the communications systems of LPD and JCPD. A recent city-wide initiative in coordinated operations is MetroSafe, which has combined the radio dispatch capabilities of police, fire and EMS into one joint emergency management unit (Joint EMU). Additionally, MetroSafe has incorporated a Motorola MotoBridge into the system, facilitating communications between different agencies (such as Shively and Jeffersontown Police Departments) with different communications capabilities.

The radio alphabet in use in LMPD is the same one used by the American Radio Relay League, circa 1948, consisting mostly of first names (note: the ARRL currently endorses use of the NATO phonetic alphabet). The alphabet is as follows: Adam, Baker, Charlie, David, Edward, Frank, George, Henry, Ida, John, King, Lincoln, Mary, Nora, Ocean, Paul, Queen, Robert, Sam, Tom, Union, Victor, William, X-ray, Young, Zebra. Until recently, "10-codes" were in common use for radio communications (e.g., "10-23" to indicate arrival on location or "10-86" to indicate situation under control). However, with the National Incident Management System going into effect, encouraging the use of "clear text" to avoid possible miscommunication between agencies using a common radio frequency or working jointly on an incident, the use of 10-codes is being phased out. LMPD has officially ceased using 10-codes as of October 2007, following a SOP update, however the use of 10-codes by both officers and dispatchers remains common practice.