Page 54 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

It came with three channels which were usually tuned in to a sub-divisional
police area which had its own ‘Controller’ who manned a communication
console back at the station to call out to officers on the street and receive
calls in from them.

Radio Etiquette - Phonetic Alphabet

All UK Police forces use the NATO standard phonetic alphabet when
transmitting radio messages. Call signs are read out phonetically, as well as
when spelling an ambiguous word (such as a street name, or surname), when
transmitting. We were urged to learn the phonetic alphabet by heart,
because using "V for Violet" and "E for Elephant" would result in being mocked
by your peers!

Letter Word Letter Word Letter Word Letter Word
A Alpha H Hotel O Oscar V Victor
B Bravo I India P Papa W Whisky
C Charlie J Juliet Q Quebec X X-Ray
D Delta K Kilo R Romeo Y Yankee
E Echo L Lima S Sierra Z Zulu
F Foxtrot M Mike T Tango
G Golf N November U Uniform

Figure 26 The Phonetic Alphabet

For the purposes of our role play practical exercises, our instructors would
take turns sitting in some remote building acting as the ‘Controller’ whilst the
students got to grips with the radios on the play streets of Ryton.
The controller transmits an outward call, heard by everyone with a radio set
to the same channel. To reply to the controller, you had to press down the
yellow button whilst transmitting your message.

Traffic Duty

Another incident that comes under the ‘Practical’ heading was learning how
to take control of busy traffic junctions to keep traffic moving. This would be
required in the event of traffic light failures or at times when there was a huge
influx of people and cars to a small area, such as football matches.

Enter stage left, Drill Sergeant Tom Trickett.

Readers will recall the embarrassment I endured at the hands of TT. Well, the
Drill practice was progressing well and other than this, we had no other
contact with him, until now.

Two classes (40 officers), were sent to the crossroads junction we all knew
well, a short distance from our accommodation blocks. We were told to split
into groups, 10 each in a straight line on each of the four roads facing the Page54
centre junction.