
                                                                12 Mar 1995
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              |  LISTENING TO THE POLICE IN CANTERBURY   |
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This document has been written with the intention of helping the hobby 
 listener to understand the system used.
If you're listening and see something that could help the police, ring them! 
 Any information that gets the bad guy behind bars is useful.
Don't get in their way either. With this information, you should be able to 
 get a better picture through your ears sitting at home listening to the 
 people involved rather than watching from the sideline. The staff out on
 the job have to report to control what's going on, so you won't miss much.


The Frequencies used
====================

Channel        Frequency
-------        ---------
Christchurch

1 Car           75.737.5 MHz NFM  Step 12.5
1 Portable     487.325.0 MHz NFM  Step 5
               487.350.0 MHz NFM  Step 5
2 Car           75.812.5 MHz NFM  Step 12.5
2 Portable     486.675.0 MHz NFM  Step 5
               485.225.0 MHz NFM  Step 5
3 Car           75.300.0 MHz NFM  Step 12.5
Beat Portable  487.375.0 MHz NFM  Step 5

Rural (Car)          
                
                75.712.5 MHz NFM  Step 12.5
Akaroa          75.925.0 MHz NFM  Step 12.5
Selwyn          75.950.0 MHz NFM  Step 12.5
                
Rural (Portable) 

               485.925.0 MHz NFM  Step 5
               485.975.0 MHz NFM  Step 5
               485.950.0 MHz NFM  Step 5

Car refers to the radio mounted into the cars, Portable refers to
 the radio that officers carry on them. To listen in on the car
 frequencies, you'll need a decent length aerial (1/2 a metre?),
 with the portable frequencies, you'll only need a very short aerial
 (a short flexable one will do)
The Step is the setting you use in a Scanner (which is what you're
 most likely listening to them with).
All frequencies are on Narrow FM (NFM).  Normal radios (that pick up
 91ZM etc) use Wide FM (WFM).  If you have had one of these modified
 to listen to the police, chances are you'll be listening to the car
 frequencies (which you'll need a decent aerial to get) in WFM. This
 means that it will be heard a lot quieter than if you were using NFM,
 and you'll probably get several channels at once (because WFM doesn't
 tune as precisly as NFM)
If you're using a flexible rubber aerial on a scanner, you'll
 hear the Portable frequencies best.
A scanner is the best device to listen to the emergency services with. It
 will pick up the conversations clearly, allow you to jump to another
 channel instantly when the police do, or scan through many channels at
 once stopping only when there's activity on one, then carry on scanning
 when that activity stops.

The main channel used is Channel 1, which is used to dispatch and
 receive information on current jobs within the city, and to contact
 units to tell them to go to another channel to talk. Channel 1
 conversations are always breif to keep the airwaves clear for
 urgent transmissions.
Channel 2 is used to do checks on Vehicles (QVR) and people (QP), and to 
 have phone calls made etc.
Channel 3 & Beat Channel are both used by units to talk to each other on
 or for lengthly conversations to the Control room.
Sometimes if a major event is going on, either channel one or two are
 used for that and all other traffic is handled on the other one (i.e.
 normal issuing of jobs and checks on vehicles etc are all done on one
 channel)
There are also Channels for Kaiapoi, Lyttleton, Rangiora, North Canterbury
 and other rural areas and a community channel. They are all linked 
 together. The community channel is used for big public events which
 require a large police attendance.

In Christchurch, a lot of the frequencies are linked. That means the
 same transmission can be heard on any of the frequencies for the 
 channels that are linked.
Channel 1 car & Channel 1 portable are linked
Channel 2 car & Channel 2 portable are linked
Channel 3 car & Beat Channel (portable) are linked.
All Channels for the area surrounding the city are linked (i.e. Kaiapoi,
 Lyttleton etc, and the community channel is also linked with these). 

(All these frequencies are broadcast by a repeater, they are
 not the frequency that is broadcast on by the unit transmitting)

The City is divided up into the following areas...

 AREA     (Callsign)
 ----     ----------
 Northern (NT)
 Southern (ST)
 Eastern  (ES)
 Central  (CT)
 Hornby   (HO)
 Christchurch (CH) [for units that cover all areas]

Rural areas are...
 Akaroa    (AO)
 Cheviot   (CV)
 Darfield  (DF)
 Kaiapoi   (KI)
 Lyttleton (LT)
 Rangiora  (RR)
 Selwyn    (SE)


Units that each area has (CT,ES,NT,HO,ST, and some in Rural areas)
------------------------
E = Enquiry
I = Incident
J = Combined (CIB and GDB) Enquiry  
Q = One-man Complaints
T = Traffic


Units that cover the whole city (CH)
-------------------------------
A = Inspector
D = Dogs
F = Photography
N = Senior Sergeant
P = Team Policing
S = Sergeant
V = Traffic Sergeant
W = Speed Camera Car
Z = Anti Terrorist Squad


Central Only (CT)
------------
B = Beat (staff on foot walking the central city)

Rural Units
-----------
R - Rural
Each Rural area has an 'R' unit, and sometimes has others
 that are listed above as being in all areas.


(Team Policing is the big van that has lots of police in
  it and an area to lock offenders in. It's on the road
  on Fri & Sat nights usually)

The unit name consists of the area they're in (listed above), then
 another few letters for what sort of unit they are, and a sequence
 letter/number if there's more that one of them. The Control room is 
 called Control.

Other Units that don't use the above system are...
-----------
AOS   Armed Offenders Squad
DAO   Duly Authorised Officer (from Sunnyside, called to get
                                 someone commited to a mental hospital)
??O   Community Constables, where ME=Merivale, PI=Papanui, AD=Addington
              SY=Sydenham, CN=Central, LY=Lyttelton, etc.
SOCO  Scene Of Crime Officer

While there is an actual AOS, the term is often used to refer to an operation
         that involves an armed offender, even if the squad isn't used.

It's always spoken in the form of (To):(From), usually they say nothing
inbetween. Sometimes they say (To): from (From).  e.g. Control EST or
 Control from EST.
Control monitors channels 1,2 & Rural.  There is a senior sergeant
 present in the control room (also refered to as the supervisor), and
 is sometimes requested by a unit on channel 1 to chat on channel 3 or
 beat. The Senior Sergeant isn't normally on the air in the control room.

 There are about 14 dog units, not all on the road at the same time though.
 There is no dog unit on the road from sometime around 12am-2am until about
 6am during the week. Their unit number is permanently assigned, so
 just because you hear Dogs 8 being called doesn't mean there is 8 Dog
 units on the road!
Usually the Dog units are just refered to as Dogs <number>, but sometimes
 they're called by their unit name - CHD <number>
On the road at all times are 2 armed cars (Sergeants).  They go under the
 units CHS,CHV & CHN.  They don't normally get sent to jobs on their own,
 they are out there to supervise & help the other units where necessary. If a
 job requires an armed unit, the CHS/V/N unit is sent in, and another
 unit gets sent back into the watch house to pick up the guns.
Other units are set up in a cordon around the area and
 the car that went in to pick up the guns goes around and hands them
 out. After the event the unit that handed them out stays in one place
 and they're all brought back to it. Aparently all guns are checked to
 see if any bullets have been discharged.
The guns are refered to as 'the neccessary', 'piece of equipment', etc,
 they are not often refered to as guns.

Cars are refered to as being 1 up if there's one officer in the car,
 and 2 up if there's 2. Sargents only ever have 1, all other cars usually
 have 2 during the night, 1 or 2 during the day.
Top Job & Micky Duck means a scungy job.

When a unit goes 4q, which is doing enquires at a place, in the Christchurch
 area, they advise control of the address they are at, or in the Rural
 areas, they give a phone number that they are at.

Speed Camera cars always call control and notify them of the site they are
 operating. They say the number followed by the road they're on. As some 
 roads have more than one site, here's a list of them...

Speed Camera Sites (out of date list)
==================
 1 Dyers Pass Road                  - McMillan Ave to Colombo St
 2 Tunnel Road                      - Port Hills Interchange to Tunnel Portal
 3 Ferry Road                       - Tunnel Rd to St Johns St
 4 Main Road                        - McCormacks Bay West to Bridle Path Rd
 5 Main Road                        - Wakatu Ave to Nayland St
 6 Ferry Road                       - Wilsons Rd to Bordesley St
 7 Aldwins Road                     - Ferry Rd to Harrow St
 8 Pages Road                       - Bickerton St to Marlow St
 9 Woodham Road                     - Worcester St to Kerrs Rd
10 Kerrs Road /  Wainoni Road       - Pannell Rd to Cuffs Rd
11 New Brighton Rd                  - Golf Links Rd to Cresswell Ave East
12 New Brighton Rd                  - Lake Terrace Rd to 100m East of Stour St
13 Cranford Street                  - Edeware Rd to Berwick St
14 Blenheim Road                    - Annex Rd to Middleton Rd
15 Main South Rd                    - Parker St to Goulding St
16 Peer Street / Waimairi Road      - Dovedale Ave to 200m South of Athol Pl
17 Wairakei Road                    - Grahams Rd to Farrindton Ave
18 Johns Road                       - Gardiners Rd to Wilkinson Rd
19 Marshland Road / Main North Road - Link Rd to 500m South of Turners Rd
20 Fitzerald Avenue                 - Hereford St to Armah St
21 Centaurus Road                   - Rapaki Rd to Opawa Rd


Used a lot are the 10 Codes.  These codes are not the same world wide, even
though most police forces use 10 codes.  They are used to report the
status of a unit.

10 Codes
========
      
10.0      Finished Duty
10.1      All Patrol Bulletin
10.2      Enroute to a job. 
10.3      Free
10.4      Please repeat
10.5      Off air for 5 mins.
10.6      Change Channel (followed by channel number, not used
                 much though, they usually just say go to channel n )
10.7      Arrived at scene.
10.8      Off air.
10.9      Urgent, priority
10.10     Immediate/Panic

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Incident Codes
==============
1a        Alarm
1b        Bomb Scare
1c        Suspicious Person
1d        Domestic
1e        Emergency
1f        Fire
1m        Mental Person
1n        Noisy Party
1p        Insecure Premises
1s        Sudden Death
1v        Motor Accident
1x        Attempted Suicide
1z        Other Incident

Task Codes
==========
2a        Advise Relatives
2b        Housie/Raffle
2l        Recovery (Lost property)
2m        Missing Person
2p        Public Relations
2r        Recovery (Stolen Vehicle)
2s        Summons
2t        Truancy
2w        Warrant

Preventative Codes
==================
3b        Beat Patrol
3c        Crime Prevention Advice
3f        Foot Patrol
3h        Hotel Patrol
3k        Keys Taken
3p        Team Policing
3r        Roadblock or checkpoint
3t        Turning over person or vehicle
3w        Watching or Observing
3y        Youth Aid Talk
3z        Other Preventative Method

Result
======
K.0       Nothing appreciable
K.1       Completed at scene, no paper work involved
K.2       Unable to complete, Nobody home
K.3       No Offense, Blameless
K.4       Cautioned or told off
K.5       Report to follow
K.6       Offence report to follow
K.7       Handing over to Specialist
K.8       Finishing assisting Primary Car
K.9       Arrest

Departmental Codes
==================
4a        Armed Offenders
4c        Correspondence
4d        Demonstration Duty
4e        Escort Duty
4f        Fingerprints
4i        Injury/Sick
4k        Court Duty
4l        Departmental Errand
4m        Meal Break
4p        Public Entertainment
4q        Enquiries
4r        Rescue
4s        Vehicle Servicing
4t        Training
4v        V.I.P.Duty
4x        Special Duty
4z        Other Misc.Duty

Administrative Code
===================
5a        Accounts
5c        Communications
5d        Dogs
5e        Equipment and issues
5f        Functions, stations, sections
5i        Instruction and training
5l        Licensing
5o        Operations, security, specimens
5p        Policy matters
5q        Queries and complaints
5s        Staff Check
5t        Transport and travel
5w        Works and housing
5z        Other admin. files

Query Codes
===========
QVR       Query Vehicle Registration
QP        Query Person (subcodes)
          I = Information
          H = History
          F = Firearms
          L = Licence
          W = Warrants
QY        Query Serial Number
QF        Query File
QEC       Query Engine/Chassis

No VOI response to a QVR = No Vehicle of Interest        

Some other terms used
=====================
EBA = Excess Breath Alcohol
Tip it Out refers to searching a car or person, or questioning them when
 they are suspected of doing something illegal.
Willie Damage = Willful Damage
Watch House = The area where people that have been arrested are taken
  to in the Central Police Station.
Job Details Please = Control is about to give the unit called some
 details on a job which usually requires them to pull over and write
 them down, the unit will respond 'go ahead' or something like that
 when they are ready.
Muster Room = A room in at the main Police station where officers do
 their paperwork.
SAP = Safe Arrival Point
Dogs 20 = Bomb Dog
Bunker = Bomb Shelter


Some other information you probably don't need to know!
=======================================================
There also exists a list of 4 digit codes which are assigned to each
 type of offence (usually said as 'coded as xxxx' by Control). These
 are hardly used thesedays so it's not worth trying to compile a list
 of them. Even when they are used, the english equivilent is also used
 so having them is pointless.

The handheld radios the Police use are Motorola Sabre's, model 2s.
They have the whole country's frequencies programmed into them, so
 if an officer goes into another area, he just changes it to that
 area's frequencies. The actual frequencies are not shown on the
 radio's screen, the channel is shown in words.


