Phonetic alphabet differences

thepedroid

thepedroid

Well-Known Member
I never really paid attention to this, but I recently discovered that the Police phonetic alphabet is completely different than EMS/Fire/Military/Aviation alphabet. I am taking a police dispatch exam on Wednesday and am retraining myself to use the police set. Here is a link to the list.

http://www.police-scanner.info/glossary/phonetic_alphabet.htm

I'm just wondering why? Also, what do police helicopter pilots use when they talk to tower and ground forces? What's your take on this MikeD?
 
The first law enforcement spelling alphabets was developed by the LAPD and made about the same time as the first military spelling alphabets (The Joint Army/Navy phonetic alphabet). They never decided to change it, even when the NATO phonetic alphabet came out in the 50s/60s. Police helicopter pilots would use the NATO alphabet when talking with ATC or other aircraft and whatever local phonetic alphabet has been decided if they are talking to their own dispatchers or police. Some police departments use the NATO alphabet, others use the one you linked to which is now called the APCO spelling alphabet.

As to why they never changed to the NATO alphabet, perhaps either because police are stubborn or because the NATO alphabet was designed to be understood across a variety of languages due to the member nations of NATO to avoid confusion but the police all speak English so maybe they figured they didn't need to change.
 
Thanks for the info. I'm talking to my buddy who was in the army and he agrees that everyone should use NATO/ICAO alphabet. I've already learned the apco format so at least I'll ace that part of the test :)
 
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