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Suffolk County (MA)

From The RadioReference Wiki

Suffolk Co. (MA) Fire & EMS Dept.'s

Boston PD District Stations


Boston Police Unit IDs

  • BPD uses 4 Characters in their ID's Phonetic (Area), number (Unit Type), and Number (Unit ID)


  • First (Phonetic)
Letter User Channel Used
Alpha District 1/15 (Downtown/Charlestown) Channel 2
Bravo District 2 (Roxbury/Dorchester) Channel 3
Charlie District 3 (Mattapan) Channel 3
Delta District 4 (South End/Back Bay) Channel 5
Echo District 5 (West Roxbury) Channel 4
Fox District 6 (South Boston) Channel 6
Gold District 7 (East Boston) Channel 2
Harry District 11 (Dorchester) Channel 6
Jake District 13 (Jamaica Plain) Channel 4
Kilo District 14 (Allston/Brighton) Channel 5
Lima District 18 (Hyde Park) Channel 4
Mike Bureau of Field Services
Nova Operations/Headquarters Division
Romeo Extra Paid Details - Large Scale/Citywide Events (not "Road Jobs)
Silver Bureau of Administrative Services (Civilian Units)
Tango Special Operations Division
Victor Investigative Services Bureau
Whiskey Boston Public Health Commission Police Department
X-Ray Internal Affairs Bureau
Yankee Boston Police Department - Administration Units
Zebra Boston Housing Authority Police Department


  • Second (Number/Letter)
Number User(s)
1 Two Officer Patrol Unit "Rapid Car"
2 Two Officer Prisoner Transport Wagon
3 Officer Assigned to Motorcycle
4 One Officer Patrol Unit "Service Car"
5 K9 Units
6 Foot/Bicycle Patrols
7 Mounted Units (Rarely speak on radio)
8 Detective
9 Sergeant (Road Supervisor)
A Lieutenant
B Captain
C Various Command Staff
D Various unspecified units - Specific to their division/bureau (V D = Crime Lab Staff)"Detail" IE "Alpha Detail to Operations" Officer doing road detail in specific district
E Explosives Ordinance Unit (may be followed by 3 digits Ie. T E 501 - is K9)
F Haven't figured out yet - has to do with Special Ops
G Emergency Deployment Team (SWAT) Tango Gold 1 and Tango Gold 2 are (Gun Cars)
H Harbor Patrol/Dive Team Units (ex Tango Harbor One)
K Officer on plain clothes proactive assignment (District or Citywide)
S Boston School Police (ex Tango Sierra ##)
T Traffic Enforcement Units (ex Alpha Tango 55 - District 1 Traffic Unit)
  • Third/Fourth (Number)
    • Unit ID always ends with 2 numbers, that signify the Unit Specific ID Number


  • Fifth Character (used at shift change sign on/sign off)
Character User(s)
A "Last Half" 11:45 pm - 8:00 am
D "Day Shift" 7:45 am - 4:00 pm
F "First Half" 3:45 pm - 12:00 am

Boston FD Radio Codes

Codes

  • A Apparatus in Accident
  • B Apparatus Mechanical Malfunction
  • C Proceed at Reduced Speed

Ten Codes

  • 10-1 Call Quarters
  • 10-2 Cancel Response
  • 10-3 Call Dispatcher
  • 10-5 Repeat Message
  • 10-6 Stand By
  • 10-7 Verify Information
  • 10-8 In Service
  • 10-9 Off the Air
  • 10-10 Unit Location
  • 10-11 Radio Test
  • 10-12 Preliminary Report
  • 10-13 Request Help
  • 10-14 Progress Report
  • 10-17 Unrest
  • 10-18 Holding 1 Engine, 1 Truck
  • 10-19 Holding 1 Engine
  • 10-20 Under Control
  • 10-21 Brush Fire
  • 10-22 Outside Rubbish
  • 10-23 Abandoned Vehicle Fire
  • 10-24 Vehicle Fire
  • 10-25 Manhole/Transformer Fire
  • 10-26 Food on Stove
  • 10-27 Compactor Fire
  • 10-28 Subway/Railroad Fire
  • 10-30 Smoke/Fire Showing
  • 10-31 Incinerator Fire
  • 10-32 Defective Oil Burner
  • 10-33 Odor of Smoke
  • 10-34 Sprinkler Problem
  • 10-35 Alarm System Problem
  • 10-36 Vehicle Emergency
  • 10-37 Public Assistance
  • 10-38 Steam Leak
  • 10-40 Utility Emergency
  • 10-41 Request Fire Marshal
  • 10-44 Request Ambulance
  • 10-47 Request Police
  • 10-51 Hazardous Road Conditions
  • 10-60 Major Emergency
  • 10-75 Working Fire
  • 10-76 High-rise Incident
  • 10-80 Hazmat Incident
  • 10-84 Unit on Scene
  • 10-86 Foam Operations
  • 10-88 Unit Responding
  • 10-92 False Alarm
  • 10-99 Out More Than 30 Minutes

Fire Codes

  • 110 Building & Contents Or Building Only
  • 111 Building, Contents Only
  • 112 Building, Rubbish Inside
  • 113 Bridge, Trestle, Overhead Elevated Structure
  • 114 Building, Chimney or Flue
  • 115 Building, Incinerator
  • 116 Pier, Quay, Pilings
  • 117 Tunnel
  • 118 Utility Co. Equipment (manhole, transformer vault)
  • 119 Fire Detail
  • 120 Public Mail Box
  • 121 Fence Pole
  • 122 Other Outside Fire: Material Has Definable Value
  • 130 Road Transport Vehicle: Passenger
  • 131 Road Transport Vehicle: Transport
  • 132 Rail Transport Vehicle
  • 133 Water Transport Vehicle
  • 910 Citizens Complaint
  • 990 Other Condition Not Listed Above
  • 991 Assisted Other District (at fire)

Disposition Codes

  • 1 Fire
  • 2 Overpressure Rupture
  • 3 Rescue & EMS
  • 4 Hazardous Conditions
  • 5 Service Call
  • 6 Good Intention Call
  • 7 False Alarm
  • 8 Natural Disaster
  • 9 Other Calls

MBTA

  • Next List is unit identifiers for the MBTA Transit Police: (work in progress)
    • Similar to Boston PD:
      • 1st Character - Phonetic
      • 2nd Character - Phonetic or Number
      • 3rd and 4th - Specific Unit
Phonetic User(s)
Alpha Central District Patrols (Downtown Boston/Backbay)
Bravo North District Patrols (North of Boston - Medford/Somerville/Cambridge)
Charlie South District Patrols (South of Downtown - Roxbury/Quincy/Braintree)
Echo Explosives Detection Team
Kilo K9 Units
Lima Lieutenant
Sierra Sergeants/Patrol Supervisors
Tango Special Operations Division
Zulu Command Staff -(Captains and above)
  • Examples
    • Echo Kilo 100 = Explosives K9 100
    • Alpha Sierra 1 - Central District Patrol Supervisor
  • Other Units:
    • North Station # - North Station Foot Patrols
    • South Staiton # - South Station Foot Patrols
    • CST - Crime Suppression Team
    • Commuter Rail - Commuter Rail Foot Patrols - Starts with district identifier (Bravo Commuter Rail)
    • OCC - Operations Control Center (Officer Assigned the MBTA's OCC)


Mailing Lists/Forums


Unidentified Federal Frequencies

164.0625  analog voice << - PL ? Likely VA Hosp Maint

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