How would one properly read out (in correct police lingo) a hypothetical license plate starting with "AAA"?

Question

Would it be"alpha alpha alpha"? "alpha times three"? "alpha, another alpha, another alpha?" I am not a police officer but was wondering what the proper phrasing would be. Thanks.

Answer 1

adam adam adam...that alpha stuff is all military..some pd's use it tho
adam
boy
charles
david
edward
frank
george
henry
ida
john
king
lincoln
mary
nora
ocean
paul
queen
robert
sam
tom
union
victor
william
xray
young
zebra

Answer 2

Most civilian public services (police, ambulance, fire dept) use a different phoenetic alphabet code than the military.

At my department, we read every plate the same way

state name followed by whatever numbers and letters, regardless if they spell something or stand for something else.

A Texas license plate reading AAA12X would get called on the radio "Texas plate Adam Adam Adam One Two X-ray"

Same goes if someone has a Michigan plate that reads B A S T A R D: "Michigan plate Boy Adam Sam Tom Adam Robert David"

If anyone on the squad transmitted anything else, dispatch or a responding officer would ask for clarification because it would be out of format and who knows if there was a transmission glitch and they were trying to say something like "toprope adam" (which indicates something entirely different with our department) instead of "triple adam" which just makes no sense


We use a lot of uniformity because there are a significant number of code words for different operations happening within the department, and an officer would feel like a real idiot having the entire operation titled 'toprope' congregating with their SWAT team and detectives at some little old lady's car with a burned out headlight....

Some smaller departments have more discretion with what they say, as it won't get confused if there aren't multiple operations under different names where things won't get misinterpeted.


Good luck, and I hope this answers your question.

Answer 3

I give this 10 hugs! ma wrote one the other day that spoke to me on an intuitive level. Deep as if connected I felt her poem. I know this poem and wish I could have come up with the tools you used to deliver it- I love the way you chose the dictionary, calendar, well meaning and future hope. I really don't think some people will ever feel the realization of deeper understanding. This leaves me with remembering the grief that I am truly alone because nothing and no one can at times make it better. My spirituality is the only porthole and even then because I am not perfect, I doubt. I know I've "gone off" from where this lead but lol that is me. BTW- Love the last line so very much.

Answer 4

Depends on the area really....in Texas we mostly use Adam for the letter "A". Alpha is used more in the military. For example:

A- adam
B- boy
C- charles
D- david
E- edward
F- frank
G- george

Just to name a few.

Answer 5

I could be wrong but it seems that Alpha is used more on the East coast and Adam is used in the Midwest and on the West coast. Either way, the letter would be repeated 3 times as the other answers have stated.

Answer 6

I'd probably read it out o Dispatch by saying "10-28 of Triple Adam-XXX".

Answer 7

It depends on the agency and the phonetics used.

Most civilian agencies use "Adam", which would be Adam Adam Adam.

Military uses "Alpha", therefore Alpha Alpha Alpha.

Answer 8

Adam Adam Adam

Answer 9

Some departments use military phonetics "Alpha Aplha Alpha".

At my PD we use old school police phonetics. "Adam Adam Adam"

Answer 10

Adam Adam Adam followed by the numbers.