What does 10 20 mean in police code?

In police radio code, 10-20 means "Location," used by officers to ask for or state where they are, as in "What's your 10-20?" (Where are you?) or "My 10-20 is..." (My location is...). This code helps with quick, efficient communication, though some agencies are moving to plain language, notes the Reddit post on r/police.

What are the Basic 10 codes most commonly used?

Common 10 codes are numerical shortcuts for emergency services (police, fire, EMS) to communicate quickly, with widely known examples including 10-4 (OK/Message Received), 10-20 (Location), 10-33 (Emergency/Need Assistance), 10-50 (Accident), and 10-8 (In Service), though exact meanings can vary slightly by agency, emphasizing clarity over brevity in some areas now. These codes save time and reduce confusion during radio transmissions. 

What is a 20 code?

"Code 20" most commonly refers to "Location" from police/radio 10-codes (10-20), meaning "What's your 20?" or "Where are you?", but it can also signify different things in specific contexts like a dry spill (retail), an acute trauma case (medical), or an error code (software). The meaning depends heavily on the system using the code. 

What does a 20 mean in police code?

In police code, "20" (from 10-20) most commonly means "Location," asking "What's your location?" or "My location is..." and is used to quickly identify where an officer or suspect is; however, some specific departments might use it differently, like for an "Officer needs assistance" (Code 20) or a "Mental subject," but Location is the universal meaning in radio slang. 

What does 1020 mean in police terms?

The phrase essentially means, “What is your location?” or “Identify your position,” but is a corrupted phrase from the original “10-20” used by law enforcement to verbally encode their radio transmissions so that non-police listeners would not easily discover police operations, as well as to communicate quicker and ...

10 Codes

What does the code 10/20 mean?

In law enforcement and CB radio slang, "10-20" means "location," leading to the common question, "What's your 20?" (Where are you?), while "10-20" can also refer to a specific state law in Florida, the "10/20/Life" statute for firearm offenses, but primarily it's about position/place in radio codes. 

What is your 10/20 meaning?

"What's your 10-20?" is slang from police/CB radio jargon meaning "What's your location?" or "Where are you?" It comes from the 10-code system where "10-20" stands for location, used for quick, clear communication, popularized by truckers in the '70s song "Convoy," and still used in emergency/radio comms and casual talk. 

Does 10/7 mean dead?

No, 10-7 generally means "out of service" or "off duty" for a police officer, but in a highly emotional, unofficial tribute for a fallen officer, it can be used to signify they are gone or deceased, often followed by no response or a final "10-4" (acknowledged) as a sign of respect, though specific codes for "dead" vary by agency (like 10-42 for ending duty). 

What does 20 mean in slang?

"20" as slang usually means location, coming from the police/CB radio code "10-20" (Where are you?), but it can also refer to someone in their twenties (20-29 years old), or, less commonly, a set of 20 goals for the year, all derived from the number's core meanings. 

What does 420 mean in cop code?

Section 420.1 refers to obstructing entry on public land. Another rumor is that 420 is the police radio code for "Marijuana smoking in progress." Again not true. The only police radio code we found that uses 420 is in Las Vegas and it's used for a homicide.

What is the code 20?

"Code 20" most commonly refers to "Location" from police/radio 10-codes (10-20), meaning "What's your 20?" or "Where are you?", but it can also signify different things in specific contexts like a dry spill (retail), an acute trauma case (medical), or an error code (software). The meaning depends heavily on the system using the code. 

What's your 20 police code?

What's your 20 means asking someone's location. It comes from the police radio code "10-20," which means "location." This code was made in the 1930s and later used by truckers and CB radio users to ask for someone's location.

What does "get a 20" mean?

I understand the expression to have a twenty on someone - which means to know their location.

What are police 10 codes?

Police 10-codes are standardized brevity codes, like 10-4 (Affirmative/OK) or 10-20 (Location), used in radio communication by law enforcement to convey common phrases quickly, discreetly, and efficiently, though their use varies and some agencies are shifting to plain English. Developed by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), they cover statuses, requests, and incidents, from 10-7 (Out of Service) to 10-33 (Emergency), helping to reduce miscommunication and improve coordination.
 

Why do they call police 12?

People call the police "12" as slang, likely originating from police radio codes like 10-12, which warns officers of civilians present, or possibly from the Adam-12 TV show, with the term becoming popular in hip-hop and street culture as a quick way to warn others about police presence. It serves as a discreet code for law enforcement in communities. 

What does 7 Adam 19 mean?

"7 Adam 19" (or similar "7-Adam-XX") is a police call sign from the show The Rookie, meaning Unit 7, patrolling in "Adam" (two-officer patrol), assigned to beat/area 19, used to identify officers like Chen & Bradford for dispatch. It combines a division (7 for Mid-Wilshire), patrol type ('A' for two officers), and unit number (19) for quick radio communication, though sometimes it's used as a shop number for location tracking. 

Why is number 20 special?

The number 20 is very important for understanding place value as it is a foundational example of a two-digit number where the tens place is not one. It clearly shows how our number system is based on groups of ten. In the number 20: The digit '2' is in the tens place, which means it represents two groups of ten.

What is 20 in slang?

In slang, "20" most often comes from the radio code "10-20," meaning "location," so "What's your 20?" asks "Where are you?", popular with truckers/police/gamers; for money, "$20" can be a "Jackson," "dub," "score," or "pony" (UK), while in UK slang, a "score" or "pony" also refers to £20. 

How to talk like a 20s gangster?

To talk like a 1920s gangster, sprinkle your speech with slang for money (dough, scratch, clams), approval (bee's knees, cat's meow), and threats (take for a ride, bump off), use terms for people (doll, big cheese, flat tire), and adopt a tough, coded tone, like calling a car a "flivver" or "bucket," alcohol "hooch," and saying "applesauce!" for "nonsense!". 

Why do truckers say 10/4?

Truckers say "10-4" because it's a short, clear way to say "message received" or "okay," originating from the 10-code system used by police and adopted by CB radio users for efficient communication, meaning "acknowledged" or "understood" in the busy airwaves, a tradition popularized by media like the show Highway Patrol and the song "Convoy".
 

What is a 32 in police code?

A police code "32" (or 10-32) most commonly means "Man with gun" or an "Armed subject," indicating an officer needs assistance with a potentially dangerous, armed individual, though variations exist, with some agencies using it for needing units or other specific calls like a drowning. Because codes can differ by jurisdiction, it's essential to know the local system, but the armed subject meaning is widespread. 

What is a 10/20 in police code?

10-19 Return/returning to the station. 10-20 Location? 10-21a Advise home that I will return at ______. 10-22 Disregard the last assignment.

What does "rubber ducky" mean in CB talk?

The phrase "10-4 rubber ducky" is a combination of two references: * 10-4: This is a common CB radio code meaning "acknowledged" or "understood." It was popularized by the song "Convoy" by C.W. McCall. * Rubber ducky: This is a term used in trucker slang to refer to a rookie driver.

What does 10/20 mean in CB talk?

In CB radio, 10-20 (or "What's your 20?") means "What is your location?" or "My location is...", acting as a quick way for users, especially truckers, to ask for or give their position on the road, with "20" referring to the location itself. Other common codes include 10-4 (message understood) and 10-9 (repeat message) for short, clear communication.