VOA标准英语2012--10-4 Police Codes Losing Favor

10-4 Police Codes Losing Favor

If you’ve ever seen an American police show on TV or in the movies, you’ve seen a dispatcher or an officer on patrol communicate using so-called “ten-codes.” These are shorthand codes that have different meanings.
The most famous, “10-4,” simply means, “I acknowledge what you’ve just told me.” It has even spread into everyday language, as in “10-4, good buddy¹!”
Your “10-20” is your location, “10-8” means you or your vehicle is in service, and “10-7” means just the opposite, that you’re going out of service. And there are many more ten codes.
This cop jargon² - later borrowed by long-distance truckers - originated with the Illinois State Police in 1937.
Back then, communication with units in the field was sometimes spotty, and the number of police channels was limited. There was no time for small talk in a car chase or confrontation³ with criminals.
But after two catastrophic events - the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York’s World Trade Center in 2001, and Hurricane Katrina’s devastating⁴ swirl⁵ into Louisiana, when chaos⁶ often reigned⁷ and officers from many agencies were frantically⁸ trying to communicate with each other - many police departments abandoned the 10-4 codes.
The latest to do so, the Maryland State Police, have switched to what’s called “Common Language Protocol,” meaning simple, plain language instead of codes that people have to memorize and sometimes get confused.
So instead of a dispatcher’s saying, “34 Bravo 2, what’s your 10-20?” he or she would say, “34 Bravo 2,” where are you? And the officer would ideally reply, “I’m at Pine and Chestnut⁹ streets.”
Of course, that still leaves the Alpha-Bravo codes, which assign a word to every letter in the alphabet to avoid spelling mixups in two-way chatter¹⁰, but one step at a time.

1 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

2 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

3 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

6 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

7 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

9 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

10 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。