Boulder County (CO)

Introduction

Boulder County is located northwest of Denver, Colorado, on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide. The elevation ranges from 5,000 to 14,000 feet. The county is 741 square miles. Within Boulder County are ten cities or towns. The County population is about 305,000.

Listening to Boulder County

Analog (VHF/UHF)

Most of Boulder County operates on conventional analog VHF channels. Longmont is the only city within the County to operate on the statewide Digital Trunked Radio System (DTRS).

City of Boulder

Police is dispatched on Blue:

Fire and Medical is dispatched on the Dispatch Channel. Often fire units within the City will use Red 2 (154.205 MHz, 179.9 PL) as their tactical channel (See county fire frequencies).

Frequency	Input	Type	Tone	Alpha Tag	Description	Mode	Tag
151.37750	155.43750	RM	107.2 PL	BFD Disp	Boulder FD Dispatch	FMN	Fire Dispatch
155.43750		RM	107.2 PL	BFD FG	Boulder FD Fireground	FMN	Fire-Tac
158.75250		RM	107.2 PL	BFD FG	Boulder FD Fireground	FMN	Fire-Tac

University of Colorado (CU)

Frequency	Input	License	Type	Tone	Alpha Tag	Description	Mode	Tag
155.19000	159.24750	KRL405	RM	043 DPL	CU PD Silver	CU Police Primary	FM	Law Dispatch
155.02500	158.95500	WXK583	RM	071 DPL	CU PD Gold V	CU Police Data/Security (Gold VHF)	FM	Law Tac
453.20000			RM	CSQ	CU Maint	CU Maintenance	FM	Other
155.47500		WQAM201	BM	CSQ	NLEEC	Police use during Football Games	FM	Law Tac
152.98250	158.30250	WQFH941	RM	026 DPL	CU PD Platnm	CU Police Car-to-Car	FM	Law Tac
154.54750	160.11750	WQKP378	RM	131 DPL	CU PD Event1	CU Police Event-1 (Special Events)	FM	Law Talk
151.54250	158.39250	WQKP378	RM	054 DPL	CU PD Tac 4	CU Police Tactical-4	FM	Law Tac
461.50000	466.50000	WPMN225	RM	031 DPL	CU PD Gold U	CU Police Data/Security (Gold UHF)	FM	Law Tac
463.82500	468.82500	WQAB869	RM	032 DPL	CU Parking	CU Parking	FM	Other

All Other Towns and Cities

Erie, Jamestown, Louisville, Lafayette, Lyons, Nederland, Superior, Ward, and including the unincorporated areas of Allenspark, Eldorado Springs, Gunbarrel, and Niwot.

• Police Depts & Sheriff dispatched on Green.

Frequency	Input	License	Type	Tone	Alpha Tag	Description	Mode	Tag
158.85000		KJK681	BM	162.2 PL	BSO Green	Boulder Sheriff North	FM	Law Dispatch
155.14500	155.86500	KJK681	BM	179.9 PL	BSO Green	Boulder Sheriff Central	FM	Law Dispatch
159.27000		KJK681	BM	136.5 PL	BSO Green	Boulder Sheriff South	FM	Law Dispatch
155.05500		KJK681	BM	151.4 PL	BSO Black	Boulder County SWAT	FM	Law Tac
155.65500		WXR229	BM	179.9 PL	BSO Yellow	Boulder Sheriff Tac	FM	Law Tac
155.92500		WPYR312	BM	123.0 PL	BSO Yellow2	Boulder Sheriff Tac	FM	Law Tac
155.80500		WPYR312	BM	146.2 PL	BSO COPPER	Boulder Sheriff Tac	FM	Law Tac
155.41500		KJK681	BM	173.8 PL	BSO Purple	Boulder Sheriff Data	FM	Law Tac
154.84500		WQCM836	BM	114.8 PL	BSO Jail VHF	County Jail VHF	FM	Law Tac
465.31250		KB48029	M	103.5 PL	BSO Jail UHF	County Jail UHF	FM	Law Tac
154.80000		WQCM836	BM	151.4 PL	BSO Jail Wrk	County Jail Work Crew	FM	Law Tac
155.85000		WPXC395	BM	114.8 PL	BSO Juv Detn	Juvenile Detention	FM	Law Tac
158.80500		WPXC395	BM	151.4 PL	BLUE NW	Network First - Law Enforcement Mutual Aid NW Denver Metro (Linked to TG 2293 on DTRS)	FM	Interop
155.46000			RM	156.7 PL	CBI	CBI	FM	Law Tac
158.77500		WPYR312	BM		Grey	All County and City Pagers	Telm	Law Tac

• Fire & Medical dispatched on Red 1.

Both Green and Red 1 are served by three primary repeater sites: North (Mead), Central (Gunbarrel Hill), and South (Mount Thorodin).

• Search and Rescue:

Statewide DTRS

The Colorado DTRS is not widely utilized in by local agencies in Boulder County. Its primary users are state agencies such as Colorado State Patrol (CSP), Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Longmont is the only city in Boulder County to use DTRS.

State Agencies

The CSP for Boulder County is covered by the 6C (6 Charlie) units. The main talk group for this dispatch is 2389. However, some of the time this dispatch is "patched" to one of the other talk groups such as 6A, 3A or 1D. Refer to the CSP section in the DTRS database.

CDOT patrol 1L (1 Lincoln) covers the state highways in the county. Talk group ID is 2499.

City of Longmont

• Police are dispatched Longmont PD Ch. 1 (TGID 9515)
• Fire is dispatched on Longmont Fire Ch. 1 (TGID 9522)

As of January, 2011, both dispatches are simulcast on their VHF channels.

LONGMONT RADIO CODES:

Code 1 Arrival

Code 2 Contact with car or person

Code 3 Stop transmitting on channel (channel traffic is restricted to ONE incident)

Code 4 Unit is OK

Code 5 In custody

Code 6 Mental Subject (also used for under influence)

Code 7 Meal break

Code 8 In service

Code 9 Wanted person/stolen property

Code 9 MARY Misdemeanor warrant

Code 9 FRANK Felony warrant

Code 9 GEORGE Gang affiliation

Code 9 IDA Sensitive information (or officer info.)

Code 10 Emergency request for cover unit

Code 11 Routine request for cover unit

Code 0 Use caution

County Fire Units

Some of the county fire departments dispatched on VHF Red 1 have tactical talk groups on the DTRS system. These are Coal Creek Fire (1501), Rocky Mountain Fire (9111), and Mountain View Fire (9113).

DTRS sites within the County limits

• Betassso (3-032)
• Gunbarrel (3-054)
• Longmont (3-056)
• Mead (1-012)

DTRS sites outside of County that provide additional coverage

• Bald North (3-061)(Larimer County)
• Dakota (1-024)(Gilpin County)
• Prospect Mtn (3-052)(Larimer County)
• Thorodin (1-005)(Gilpin County)

The majority of the eastern portion of the county is covered by Mead, Gunbarrel and Thorodin. The majority of the western mountainous portion is covered by Thorodin, and Dakota. Betasso only covers a small area in Boulder Canyon.

Please see the Boulder County DTRS Database for control channel frequencies and talk group IDs.

Police/Sheriff

Unit Numbers

• 100-299 (On Blue channel these are Boulder City officers, on Longmont's PD channel these are Longmont Officers, and LPD units will often use Paul XXX when on the radio)

Levels/Radio Numbers

• 101 Chief
• 102-119 Commanders
• 120-150 Sergeants
• 151-199 Detectives/Community Services
• 200-299 Patrol Officers OTHER COUNTY UNITS
• 300-320 Boulder Police Traffic Investigators
• 321-339 Boulder Police Parking Control
• 340-349 Humane Society Officers
• 350-359 Boulder Police Environmental Control
• 360-399 Boulder Police
• 400-479 Louisville Police Department
• 480-489 Ward Marshal's Office
• 490-499 Nederland (obsolete)
• 500-699 Boulder County Sheriffs
• 700-749 Boulder County Sheriff's Reserves
• 750-790 Boulder County Sheriff's Jail Reserves
• 791-799 Boulder County Animal Control
• 800-899 University of Colorado Police Department
• 900-999 Boulder County Sheriff's Volunteers
• 1120-1125 Boulder County Coroner's Office
• 13XX Boulder County Jail Deputies
• 1400 Boulder County Jail Control
• 1720-1799 Boulder County Parks and Open Space
• 18XX Dispatchers/Mobile Command Centers
• 6CHARLIE XX CSP UNITS (will come on green to assist county units)
• Edward XX Erie Police
• Lincoln XX Lafayette Police
• Paul XXX Longmont Police
• Nora XX Nederland (Nora 1: Chief, Nora 2: Sergeant, 4-11: officers)
• Forest Service XX

Police radio codes

Boulder County Sheriff's department uses plain English (no 10 codes) for radio communication. A limited number of codes are used.

Boulder County Fire

Boulder County Fire Unit Designators

• 1900 Rocky Mountain Rescue
• 2100 City of Longmont Fire
• 2200 Mountain View Fire Protection District
• 2300 Boulder Rural Fire Protection District
• 2400 Rocky Mountain Fire
• 2500 Boulder Fire - Rescue (City)
• 2600 Lafayette Fire Department
• 2700 Louisville Fire Department
• 2800 Hygiene Fire Protection District
• 2900 Front Range Rescue Dogs
• 3000 Longmont Emergency Unit
• 3100 Boulder Emergency Squad
• 3200 Boulder County Haz-Mat Team
• 3900 Boulder Open Space / Mountain Parks (City)
• 4000 Lyons Fire Department
• 4100 Lefthand Fire Protection District
• 4200 Jamestown Fire Department
• 4300 Boulder Mountain Protection District
• 4500 Sunshine Protection District
• 4600 Four Mile Protection District
• 5000 Big Elk Meadows Protection District
• 5100 Pinewood Springs Protection District
• 5200 Allenspark Fire Department
• 5300 Indian Peaks Protection District
• 5400 Gold Hill Protection District
• 5500 Sugarloaf Protection District
• 5600 Nederland Fire Department
• 5700 Timberline Fire Protection District
• 5900 United States/Colorado State Forest Service

Fire and Rescue Assignments

• XX01 - XX15 Engines
• XX16 - XX19 Ladders
• XX20 - XX29 Rescues/Squads/Meds/Dives
• XX30 - XX39 Brush/Scats
• XX40 - XX49 Tenders
• XX50 - XX59 Utilities/Urban Interface/Misc.
• XX60 - XX79 Command/Admin
• XX80 - XX99 Admin/Others

Map of Fire and Ambulance Districts

Boulder County District Map

Boulder Rural Fire District Map

EMS Frequencies:

Fire Tone Out (FTO)

Units Dispatched on RED 1

Boulder County Fire Dispatch RED 1 uses mostly paging tones that correspond to the Plectron standard, although the timing differs. Some tones are Motorola Quick Call II. Some tones are neither. In any case, these tones will work with scanners that support fire tone out. See Fire_Tone_Out for more information.

Do not use a RED 1 repeater channel for monitoring tones higher than 1820 Hz, as the repeater won't rebroadcast it. In that case, you will have to monitor 154.325 MHz directly.

Longmont Fire

Uses Motorola Quick Call 2

Railways

There are two railways still in use in Boulder County.

BNSF has a line running from Denver, CO to Cheyenne, WY, which passes through Broomfield, Boulder, and Longmont in eastern Boulder County. The primary frequency to hear these trains is 161.160 MHz (AAR channel 70). In the City of Boulder, the Valmont Switcher can often be heard exchanging coal cars at the Xcel Energy's Valmont Power plant.

Union Pacific (UP) has a line running from Denver, CO to Bond, CO, which passes through and along the southern county line, generally following the South Boulder Creek drainage. It is known as the Moffat Subdivision and carries coal, freight and passengers. The route between Rocky Flats and the Moffat Tunnel can be heard on 160.455 Mhz (AAR Channel 23).

Online Audio

• Boulder County On-line Audio

Refresh this page from the latest database entry