Los Angeles County (CA) Sheriffs Department
From The RadioReference Wiki
This article contains information on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Information on other agencies in Los Angeles County can be located on it's article.
Much of the information in the article is courtesy of Southern California Frequency Directory which is an excellent resource and their work is much appreciated. Please consider purchasing their products to help support an excellent parallel resource to Radio Reference.
Overview
The following explanation is an excerpt directly from the Southern California Frequency Directory:
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department operates a conventional radio system referred to as the "480 System" within the department, because of the frequencies it occupies. The system uses over sixty repeater sites around the county, most of which are on hilltops, to relay communications. The hilltops from which a particular repeater transmits from is dependant upon the area that channel was intended to cover. Communications on a particular channel will sound the best when monitoring from within or near the area that the personnel assigned to that channel patrol.
With the exception of Special Units Dispatch (which has countywide coverage), Dispatch and Local Tactical channels each have the smallest area of intended coverage. As a result, a listener must be relatively closer to a particular dispatch area to hear communications on that channel clearly. Conversely, Area Tactical and Countywide Tactical channels each are intended to cover the territory of several or all of the dispatch channels combined. As a result, listeners can hear communications on any given Area Tactical and Countywide Tactical channels from further reaches of the county than corresponding Local Tactical or Dispatch channels. While these repeater configurations provide varying degrees of expanded coverage on a particular channel, personnel may bypass the repeaters and use simplex on any channel, commonly referred to as "direct", "talk-around", or "car to car" operation.
The Sheriff's Communications Center (SCC) is located in East Los Angeles near the Biscaluze Jail, and dispatchers all incidents countywide. To assist SCC in confirming who is transmitting, each time a deputy presses the transmit button on his radio the radio transmits a unique identifier (called a "G-Star AID", "burp", or "burst" encoder, or more commonly a "turkey call"). The unique IDs are displayed on the SCC dispatcher's screen. When a radio's emergency trigger (also called "E-Trigger" or man down switch.) is activated, the radio switches to the emergency channel and transmits the Radio ID five times.
Each sheriff's station has a Dispatch channel and a Local Tactical channel, each of which may be permanently shared with one or more other stations depending on the volume of station radio activity. Nearly all incidents and communications begin on a Dispatch channel. Local Tactical (or 'L-TAC') channels are used by units to communicate directly with one or more other unit from the same station without tying up the Dispatch channel. Area Tactical (or "A-TAC") channels are used to coordinate significant incidents requiring the participating of units from more than one station. Incidents or events that require countywide coordination use a Countywide Tactical (or 'C-TAC') channel. Each of five Mutual Aid channels covers a different part of the county and allows sheriff's units to coordinate with neighboring municipal police departments when one agency is assisting another.
Unit Designators
| Phonetic | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| A | Adam | 2nd Car in Geographical Area |
| B | Boy | Bike or Boat Team |
| C | Charlie | Captain |
| D | David | Station Desk |
| E | Edward or Eddie | Extra Unit in Designated Area |
| G | George | Gang Unit |
| H | Henry | Overlap or Mounted Unit |
| I | Ida | Area Commander |
| K | King | One Man Car (Often Trainee in last month of training) |
| L | Lincoln | Station Lieutenant/Watch Commander |
| M | Mary | Motorcycle Unit |
| N | Nora | COPS Team or Night Detectives |
| R | Robert | Reserve Unit |
| S | Sam | Sergeant |
| T | Tom | Traffic Car |
| V | Victor | Civilian Volunteer |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| 01 | Sheriff |
| 02 | UnderSheriff |
| 1I | Duty Commander |
| East Los Angeles (2) | |
| 21 | North of Cesar Chavez Av |
| 22 | South of Chavez west of 710 |
| 23 | East LA 710 Fwy to Atlantic |
| 24 | East LA East of Atlantic |
| 25 | East LA Extra Unit |
| 27-29 | Commerce Contract |
| Lennox (3) | |
| 31 | Vermont Area |
| 32 | Lennox/Del Aire 32A- Del Aire |
| 34 | Gardena/Torrance County areas |
| 35 | Lawndale |
| Norwalk (4) | |
| 43 | Norwalk North of Rosecrans |
| 45 | Norwalk South of Rosecrans |
| 46 | La Mirada |
| 48 | South/East Whittier |
| 49 | East Whittier |
| Temple (5) | |
| 51 | East Pasadena/North San Gabriel |
| 52 | Temple City Contract |
| 53 | Rosemead |
| 54 | South San Gabriel |
| 55 | South El Monte |
| 57 | Monrovia/Arcadia county areas |
| 58 | Duarte |
| Santa Clarita (6) | |
| 61 | Canyon Country |
| 62 | Newhall/South Valencia |
| 63 | Sand Canyon/East Canyon Country |
| 64 | North Valencia |
| 65 | East End County Areas |
| 66 | Castaic/Stevenson Ranch/Del Aire/Valencia County Areas |
| 67 | East County Areas |
| 67K9 | Gorman Resident Deputy |
| 68K9 | Gorman Resident Deputy |
| 60H | Boat units |
| Altadena (7) | |
| 71 | West |
| 72 | Central |
| 73 | East |
| San Dimas (8) | |
| 81 | San Dimas Contract |
| 86 | County areas West of Grand Av |
| 87 | County areas East of Grand Av |
| 88 | San Gabriel Mountain Units |
| West Hollywood (9) | |
| 91 | East of Fairfax |
| 92 | Fairfax to La Cienega |
| 93 | West of La Cienega |
| 94 | Special Problems Unit (SPU) |
| 95 | Universal Studios Substation Units |
| 96 | COPS Team |
| Malibu Substation (10) | |
| 101 | East of Malibu Cyn Rd |
| 103 | County Areas/Topanga Cyn |
| 104 | West of Malibu Cyn. Rd. |
| 109A | Aero Unit |
| Lancaster (11) | |
| 110 | UNKNOWN USE |
| 111 | City Contract |
| 112 | City Contract Anyone Know the dividing lines? |
| 113 | Quartz Hill/West County Areas |
| 114 | Lake Los Angeles/East County Areas |
| 119A | Aero Unit |
| Crescenta Valley (12) | |
| 121 | La Canada-Flintridge |
| 122 | La Crescenta |
| 123 | Dexter-Lopez Canyon/ San Gabriel Mountains |
| Lakewood (13) | |
| 132 | Lakewood Contract |
| 133 | Bellflower |
| 134 | Artesia |
| 135 | Hawaiian Gardens |
| 136 | Paramount |
| 138 | Volunteers |
| Skynight | Dedicated Aero Unit Lakewood/Cerritos Stations |
| Industry (14) | |
| 141 | Industry Contract |
| 142 | West Valinda/Bassett |
| 143 | La Puente |
| 144 | Valinda/East Valinda |
| 145 | La Habra Heights |
| 147 | Hacienda Heights |
| Pico (15) | |
| 151 | Pico Rivera Contract |
| 152 | West Whittier |
| 154 | COPS Team/Whittier Blvd Cruising Team |
| Carson (16) | |
| 163 | West County areas |
| 164 | North and West of Cal State Campus |
| 165 | University to 213th St |
| 166 | East End |
| 167 | City Southwest |
| 168 | City Southeast |
| 169 | Rancho Dominguez |
| Lomita (17) | |
| 171 | Lomita Contract |
| 172 | Rolling Hills Estates |
| 173 | Rancho Palos Verdes |
| 174 | Rancho Palos Verdes |
| 175 | Rolling Hills |
| Avalon (18) | |
| 184 | Avalon Contract |
| 185 | Two Harbors Units |
| 187 | Catalina SAR units/Baywatch when needed |
| Century (21) | |
| 210 | Special Units |
| 212 | Lynwood |
| 213 | Willowbrook |
| 214 | County areas west of Central/North of Rosecrans |
| 216 | Firestone area north of Florence Ave. |
| 217 | Firestone area south of Florence Ave. |
| 218 | Special units |
| 219 | Special units |
| Lost Hills (22) | |
| 222 | Agoura Hills |
| 224 | Calabasas |
| 225 | County Areas |
| 226 | Westlake Village |
| Cerritos (23) | |
| 231 | West |
| 232 | Central |
| 233 | East |
| 234 | East |
| 235 | Mall Area |
| Skyknight | Aero Unit |
| Special Enforcement Bureau (24) | |
| Palmdale (26) | |
| 260 | UNKNOWN USE |
| 261 | West End |
| 262 | West End |
| 263 | Near East End |
| 264 | Far East End |
| 265 | Little Rock/Pearblossom/Valyermo |
| 266 | Acton |
| 267 | Resident Deputy/Lake Hughes/Green Valley/ |
| Marina Del Rey (27) | |
| 271 | Marina |
| 271B | Boat |
| 272 | Marina |
| 273 | Windsor Hills/View Park/Ladera Heights |
| 274 | Windsor Hills/View Park/Ladera Heights |
| 277 | Special Units |
| Compton (28) | |
| 281 | Northwest City |
| 282 | Northeast City |
| 283 | Southwest City |
| 284 | Southwest City |
| 285 | East Rancho Dominguez |
| 287 | West county end county area South of Rosecrans |
| Walnut (29) | |
| 291 | Walnut City Contract |
| 292 | Diamond Bar |
| 293 | Rowland Heights |
| 294 | Rowland Heights |
| Prisoner Transport (50-59) | |
| Transit Services Bureau (60-69) | |
| Adam | Vehicle Patrol (Applicable to rail units) |
| Frank | Foot Patrol |
| Frank/Edward | Civilian Fare Inspectors |
| 601 | Blue Line Long Beach |
| 602 | Blue Line Carson/Compton |
| 603 | Blue Line South Central LA |
| 604 | Blue Line Downtown LA |
| 605 | 7th/Figueroa Station |
| 606 | Green Line West End |
| 607 | Green Line Central |
| 608 | Green Line East |
| 611 | Metrolink North County |
| 612 | Metrolink East County |
| 614 | Metrolink East County to San Bernardino |
| 616 | Metrolink East County to San Bernardino |
| 641 | Red Line Downtown |
| 642 | Red Line west of Downtown |
| 643 | Red Line Hollywood |
| 644 | Red Line Hollywood |
| 645 | Red Line Valley |
| 651 | Gold Line Downtown |
| 652 | Gold Line Highland Park |
| 653 | Gold Line South Pas/Pasadena |
| 654 | Gold Line Pasadena |
| 681 | Buses San Gabriel Valley-El Monte Terminal |
| 682 | Buses San Gabriel Valley |
| 683 | Buses Southeast county |
| 684 | Buses Southeast county |
| 685 | Buses South of Downtown |
| 686 | Torrance Transit contract |
| 687 | Buses West county |
| 688 | Buses San Fernando Valley |
| 689 | Buses Downtown and adjoining areas |
| 690 | Special Units |
| Tactical Response (7xx) | |
| 7xx | Tactical Platoon (Digits 2 & 3 indicate Station Identifier 705 would be Temple Station Tactical Platoon |
| Station Detectives (8xx) | |
| 8xx | Station Detective (Digits 2&3 indicate Station Identifier 827 would be Marina Del Ray Detective |
| Community College Bureau (85-89) | |
| 871 | City College |
| 872 | East LA College |
| 873 | Trade Tech |
| 874 | South West College |
| 875 | Valley College |
| 876 | Mission College |
Related Links
Return to Los Angeles County