Police Phonetic Alphabet

The police alphabet, or law enforcement phonetic alphabet, is a vocabulary list that consists of the most common terms used in law enforcement, along with several words used regularly by first responders like firefighters and EMTs. The purpose of this list was originally to create an universal language for officers throughout the United States to communicate quickly without confusion or ambiguity when needed. Today it has evolved into a standardized list of words used by law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S., but it still has many uses for private citizens as well.

It's important to note that the alphabet may vary by police department. Additionally, due to 10 codes being different in different places they are being phased out in order to make it easier for departments and other emergency services like EMS to respond to large scale events. These police radio codes used to make it easy for citizens to find out about crime and public safety issues in their area if they knew the right police lingo.

Here is the list of the most common law enforcement phonetic alphabet and their pronunciation. Do you need to learn this alphabet to become a police officer? Do want to save yourself time studying this? Signup for a free account and save yourself hours! Click here now.

A is Adam

B is Boy

C is Charles

D is David

E is Edward

F is Frank

G is George

H is Henry

I is Ida

J is John

K is King

L is Lincoln

M is Mary

N is Nora

O is Ocean

P is Paul

Q is Queen

R is Robert

S is Sam

T is Tom

U is Union

V is Victor

W is William

X is Xray

Y is Young

Z is Zebra

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why do police use a different phonetic alphabet?

This is done to help ensure information is accurately passed clearly and quickly; "d" and "e" can sound very different over the radio, but once you've called one david and one edward, it's easy to ensure you get the right information. This radio alphabet doesn't just help with radio communication, it's also useful in oral communication.

Why don't police use the NATO phonetic alphabet?

The military alphabet and police phonetic alphabet seem to have been made different as the police wanted their codes to be different in order to distinguish themselves from the military. The military phonetic alphabet is also used by civil aviation, as this nato spelling alphabet is more widespread. The police alphabet is not.