Another great American tradition, part of the lore and legend of the road, slid further toward oblivion last week. The Maryland State Police abandoned the terse “ten code” system of radio communication.
That was the system that embodied such code terms as the celebrated 10-4 — message understood. It was adopted by long-distance truckers, and it added to the laconic mystique of highway patrol officers.
Virginia abandoned the code in 2006. The replacement was plain English.
Effective Feb. 1, the Maryland State Police said in an announcement, the code system was out, to be replaced by “the Common Language Protocol,” which they said is also known as Plain Language.
In giving the reason for the change, the Maryland police offered a similar explanation to that put forward by Virginia.
Even police agencies in adjoining districts, authorities have said, have developed different codes for the same events. As a result, officials have said, when several agencies try to cooperate, confusion could arise. In particular, officials said, the changeover was prompted by difficulties encountered on Sept. 11, 2001.
So for the Maryland troopers, it is on to the phonetic alphabet — A-Alpha, B-Bravo and C-Charlie — and, for example, such terms as “disabled vehicle” instead of the time-honored “10-46.”
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