Allen County (IN)
From The RadioReference Wiki
Contents
Trunked Radio System
Allen County makes minimal use of SAFE-T in all respects as it maintains its own trunked radio system, Allen County Public Safety. SAFE-T is the tertiary system to fall back to if both ACPS and the Allen County Government Services TRS are out of service. The Three Rivers Ambulance Authority (TRAA) makes use of SAFE-T when patient transports require it to go out of range of ACPS.
As of February 2, 2014, many agencies have been migrated to a new APCO-25 system in which most or all Talk Groups are operating with encryption.
Law Enforcement Agencies
- Allen County Sheriff's Office (ACPD)
- Fort Wayne Police Department (FWPD)
- Indiana State Police (District 22)
Signal Codes
ACPD and FWPD share a common set of radio signals. Most communication with ACFD and FWFD use plain English with a mix of specific signals still in use.
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1 154 is the badge number of the late Patrolman Kenneth Stiverson of FWPD, who was fatally shot in the line of duty while negotiating with an escaped mental patient.
ACPD
The Allen County Sheriff's Office (known as ACPD) has serviced the Allen County area since the first sheriff took office in 1824 and has had 50 sheriffs take office since then (including the current sheriff, Kenneth C. Fries).
ACPD is known for having a very strong K9 training program and provides such training for neighboring agencies, the Indiana State Police (which now has its own training program), as well as agencies from distant counties and states. ACPD was the second agency in the State of Indiana to have a SWAT/ERT team.
Unit Numbers
ACPD officers use their three digit badge numbers as their unit identifiers on the air. Occasionally, a unit will identify itself by its car number. Warrants units almost exclusively identify by their commission number and not their unit number. Some Fort Wayne units have unit numbers in these ranges, so mutual aid traffic may get confusing sometimes.
Known Unit Prefixes
- 100-300 - Officers
- 600-700 - Reserve Officers
- 800-900 - Marshall
- AC# - Animal Control/Field Service
- C### - Confinement Officer. Often, a jail van.
- CAR# - Commission (Typically Warrants Division)
- EH## - Extra Help (Not Reserves)
FWPD
FWPD units are designated with an alpha prefix that may denote what sector that that unit is assigned to and then a three digit number, possibly corresponding to a badge number. When addressed, the phonetic for the sector prefix is used (e.g. "BAKER ONE-THIRTEEN"). So far, alpha prefixes are known to go as high as "O - Ocean".
Fire and Rescue Agencies
Allen County is served by a mix of career, volunteer and hybrid fire departments, including two city fire departments (the career Fort Wayne Fire Department (FWFD) and the hybrid New Haven Fire Department) and several township and "fire district" departments. Each department is independent of the others. As such, there is no Allen County Fire Department, per se. FWFD stations are dispatched on the city/county 800 MHz trunked radio system. All other departments are dispatched on the "Allen County fire" VHF frequency (154.010 MHz), although all departments have the capability to communicate with dispatchers on the city/county 800 MHz trunked radio system.
Staging Levels
All departments, including FWFD, NHFD and departments that serve unincorporated areas of Allen County, use standard staging levels for emergency response situations.
- Level 1 - Lead pump to scene. All other units stage one block away
- Level 2 - All units stage at designated staging area
- Level 3 - Lead engine to scene. All other units stage near current location
- Level 4 - Task Force on station (1 engine, 1 tanker, 6-8 firefighters)
- Level 5 - Ambulance crew on station
- Level 6 - Lead engine to scene (lights & siren). All other units proceed quietly
Allen County Fire Departments
All Allen County fire departments, except for the Fort Wayne Fire Department, are dispatched on a simucast VHF frequency (154.01 MHz). Some departments, however, operate their own repeater system, the output of which is on the dispatch frequency. In those cases, it is possible to hear field units at a greater distance.
All Fort Wayne Fire Department apparatus are equipped only with 800 MHz radios. Since early 2016 county departments have transitioned to 800 MHz use for all communications including mutual aid requests with all surrounding counties. State mutual aid is seldom used for water supply operations.
Listeners report that departments other than FWFD (which uses 800 MHz exclusively) made considerable use of the 800 MHz system after the June 29, 2013 derecho storm.
Signal Codes
These have been reworked to match the city 700 codes
- 700 Evacuate Structure
- 701 Single Unit Can Handle
- 702 Two Units Can Handle
- 703 Three Units Can Handle
- 704 Working Fire
- 705 Send Unit (specify)
- 706 Second Alarm
- 707 Board Up requested
- 708 Request Arson Investigators
- 709 Request Knox Box Key Release
Bases
Each fire department that is dispatched on the Allen County fire VHF frequency is assigned a "base" number. In some cases, where departments have more than one station, the stations each have their own base numbers.
- 10 NHATFD HQ Station
- 30 Monroeville Fire Department
- 40 NHATFD Station 1
- 50 SWACFD Station 1
- 60 Washington Twp FD
- 70 St. Joseph Twp FD (Part 2)
- 80 Arcola FD
- 90 Huntertown (Perry Twp FD)
- 100 Poe VFD
- 120 NHATFD Station 2
- 130 Hoagland (Madison Twp FD)
- 140 NEACFD Grabill
- 150 SWACFD Station 2
- 160 Woodburn (Maumee Twp)
- 170 NEACFD Cedar Canyons
- 180 Aboite Twp FD Station 1
- 200 Churubusco/Smith Twp FD(Serves part of Allen and Whitley Counties and can therefore be dispatched by dispatchers in either county)
- 240 NEACFD Harlan
- 250 SWACFD Station 3
- 260 Woodburn Station 2
- 280 Aboite Twp FD Station 2
- 350 SWACFD Station 4
- 870 Fire Arson Specialized Team (FAST Team)
Base Locations
Service Availability
Most stations operate "on call" as needed. The exceptions are Huntertown Fire, Northeast Fire District (B-140), New Haven Fire Dept (B-10), Aboite Twp Fire Dept (B-180), and Poe Fire Dept. M-145 and M-45 truck one and two are two of only a few Paramedic ambulances operated in the county, which offer 24-hour service. If a station cannot be successfully raised via VHF after four minutes, the next closest/available station is dispatched (referred to as the "four minute protocol").
Fort Wayne Fire Department
- Sta. #1 (HQ) - 419 E. Main St. @ Lafayette St. (aka US-27),Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #2 - 2023 Taylor St. between Bevel Ave. & Brooklyn Ave.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #3 - 226 W. Washington Blvd. between Webster St. & Harrison St.,Ft. Wayne (This Sta. is closed & houses the Ft. Wayne Firefighters Museum)
- Sta. #4 - 4130 Lahmeyer Rd. between Trotters Chase Ln. & Becky Ln.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #5 - 5801 Bluffton Rd. across from Old Trail Rd.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #6 -
- Current Sta. - 1500 W. Coliseum Blvd. (aka State Route 930) between Executive Blvd. & Newaygo Rd.,Ft. Wayne (The rear of the Sta. has access off of Directors Row)
- Former Sta. - 1441 (N.) Wells St. @ W. 4th St.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #7 - 1602 Lindenwood Ave. @ Spring St.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #8 - 6035 Rothman Rd. between Sunderland Dr. & Maplecrest Rd.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #9 - 2530 E. Pontiac St. @ Fruehauf Dr.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #10 -
- Current Sta. - 3200 N. Anthony Blvd. @ Crescent Ave.,Ft. Wayne
- Former Sta. - 1245 E. State Blvd. across from California Ave.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #11 - 405 E. Rudisill Blvd. @ Lafayette St. (aka US-27),Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #12 - 6901 S. Anthony Blvd. between Seddlemeyer Ave. & Gardendale Ave.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #13 - 6727 N. Clinton St. across from Foxchase Run,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #14 - 3400 Reed Rd. between Fairlawn Pass & Vance Ave.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #15 - 1415 Northland Blvd. between Lima Rd. (aka State Route 3) & Polo Run,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #16 - 11330 Coldwater Rd. between Badiac Rd. & Valley O' Pines Pkwy.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #17 - 1910 Getz Rd. @ Constitution Dr.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #18 - 10805 Liberty Mills Rd. @ Homestead Rd.,Ft. Wayne
- Sta. #19 - 10116 Covington Rd. @ S. Scott Rd.,Ft. Wayne
Signal Codes
- 700 Emergency Evacuation Alert
- 701 First due in rig can handle
- 702 Two rigs can handle
- 703 Three rigs can handle
- 704 Working fire
- 705 Send extra pump
- 706 Two alarm fire
- 707 Board up scene
- 708 Fire Investigator
- 709 Knox Box Requests
Three Rivers Ambulance Authority
TRAA currently holds the contract with the City of Fort Wayne / Allen County for emergency medical services. TRAA will also make runs outside of the city limits to meet county rescue units to provide a paramedic or transfer a patient to an ALS ambulance as most county ambulances lack ALS equipment.
- 525 Hayden St. between S. Monroe St. & Clay St.,Ft. Wayne (WNAH566)
Jurisdictions
ACPD has enforcement power within the entire county, though the patrol division is assigned outside of the city limits; despite this, many enforcement activities are performed by ACPD within the city. FWPD officers are firmly limited in jurisdiction to the city limits. FWPD is empowered by the Allen County Sheriff and maintains its power of enforcement at his/her discretion. ACPD has divided the county into districts which are identified alphabetically (A through F).
Town Marshals
The State of Indiana empowers these marshals, and Allen County has several outlying towns that employ/facilitate one or more marshals:
- Monroeville Monroeville PD (Unit 809)
- Woodburn PD (Formerly 812-#, now identify as WOODBURN #)
- Zanesville PD (Allen & Wells Counties)
- Churubusco PD (Whitley County, but maintains radio contact on ACPS TRS using Unit 836)
There are several other unit numbers believed to be town marshals but have not been associated with a particular locality:
- 808
- 810
New Haven
Despite appearing to be conjoined with Fort Wayne, New Haven maintains its own police agency and has several fire houses under the control of the Allen County Fire Department, Adams Township. FWPD appears to have jurisdiction within New Haven, though patrols do not emphasize this area due to the empowerment of NHPD. NHPD relies mostly on marked Ford Police Interceptors, though is known to have unmarked CVPIs, one or more marked SUVs, and several marked Dodge Chargers.