City of Boston Public Safety Agencies by Gary Saffer
from: The Eastern Mass Scanner Guide 

Boston Police Department

The Boston Police Department provides police protection to the citizens of and visitors to the City of Boston. Recently President William Clinton proclaimed the BPD “the best police department in the nation”.  A mixture officers assigned to regular patrol, neighborhood services and special units such a Canine, Mounted Unit, and Harbor Patrol provide services. The BPD also maintains a fully  staffed bomb squad.

The Operations Division, better known as the "turret" provides communications. Located at Boston Police Headquarters the “turret” contains 9-1-1 operations, all radio dispatch and the “teletype room” where wanted , license, and registration checks are performed.

The BPD recently moved into a new headquarters building. This building features state of the art security, houses detectives, the crime lab, identification section, and warrant unit, some of which were quartered away from the old headquarters.

Most Boston cruisers also have MDTs and the BPD maintains it’s own system separate from the system maintained by the MSP.

Boston PD channels all went DPL on 6/21/06 the char below is being updated as we receive the changes.

In addition the Boston Police Operations Division "The Turret" can communicate on all of the BAPERN Channels and can cross patch to any of the operational channels if the need arises.

Boston Police Call sign ID's

Each unit is assigned it's own call sign. The first part of the call sign is a phonetic letter that designates the part of the city or specialized unit.

The city is broken down into five areas, within each area are two or three districts.

Call sign            District #          Location/Unit   

Alpha                         1/15                     Downtown, Charlestown
Bravo                         2                          Roxbury
Charlie                       3                          Mattapan
Delta                          4                          South End, Back Bay
Echo                          5                          West Roxbury
Fox                             6                         South Boston
Gold                            7                        East Boston
Harry                         11                        Dorchester
Jake                          13                       Jamaica Plain
Kilo                           14                        Allston/Brighton
Lima                           8                        Hyde Park
Mike                                                      Special Events
Nova Base                                            Channel 8
Romeo                                                   Detail units on Central Artery project
Silver                                                      Services (mechanics, tow trucks, etc.)
Tango                                                    Special Operations
Victor                                                     Detectives
Yankee                                                  Administration

Academy xxx units are heard when there is an academy class in session.  These units operate on Channel 1 and transmit simulated radio traffic including fights, officer in trouble calls, crimes in progress calls, etc. The concept is to get recruits used to operating police radios.

The second character denotes the unit type

1                              Rapid Response (two man cars)
2                              Patrol Wagons
3                              Motorcycles
4                              Neighborhood Service Unit, including Community Service  Officers,
5                                                           Canine Units
6                                                          Foot Patrols
7                              Mounted
7                                                         Detectives assigned to district stations
8                              Specialized detective units like Homicide.
9                              Supervisors
A                             Lieutenants
B                             Captains
C                             Command
D                             Other
K                             Anti Crime units (Plain Clothes Officers)

The third and fourth digits denote the individual  unit identification.
The fifth digit, if used denotes shift. Generally you will only hear this at the beginning and end of a shift.

A -  Night Shift
D -  Day Shift
F -  Evening

The Boston Police Department does not use any dispatch codes. All calls are given out in clear language. They do however use service codes and Routine Miscellaneous Incident Reporting Codes (Miscel Codes). Service codes are used for Vehicle Maintenance, Lunch Breaks, Court, Etc.  Miscel Codes are used for clearing incidents for which no report is required. Finally, they use codes for Arriving, Clearing, and Logging on and off the air.

Boston Police Service Codes
Code                 Meaning                                                Code                       Meaning
1                         Vehicle Maintenance                           16                            Moving Violation or Tagging
2                         Radio Maintenance                             17                            Car Wash
3                         Training                                                 18                            Range
4                         Transport Female                                 19                            Walk and Talk
5                         Transport Prisoners                             20                            Gas
6                                                 Court Attendance                                 21                            Travel to and From Post
7                                                  Escort Duty                                           22                            Emergency Shelter Coverage
8                                                 School Crossing                                   23                            Guarding Prisoners
9                                                  Station Assignment                             24                            209A Service
10                                              Lunch                                                     25                            Community Service Meeting
11                                              Warrant Service                                   26                            On Duty – Special Event
12                                              Warrant Unit for Pickup                      35                            Licensed Premises Inspection
13                                              Out of City Assignment
14                                          Towing
15                                          Traffic Enforcement

Miscellaneous Routine Incident Reporting Codes (Miscel Codes)
Number                  Incident                                                 Phonetic                                Police Action
1                              ADT or Burglar Alarm                         A- Adam                Non Bona Fide Incident
2                              Citizen Alarm                                        B- Boy                    No Person can be found
3                              Citizen Calling for Help                       C-Charlie                No such address
4                              Escort Duty                                           D-David                 No police service necessary
5                              Fire Alarm                                              E-Edward               Perpetrator gone on police arrival
6                              Family trouble*                                    F-Frank                  Peace restored
7                              Gathering causing annoyance           G-George               Advised Warrant
8                              Investigation person routine             H-Henry                 Advised to re-contact police if
9                              Investigation, premises routine                                         repeated or returned
10                            Landlord – Tenant Disturbance        I-Ida                        Taken to district station
11                            Lock Out                                                J-John                    Field Interrogation report
12                            Noisy Party                                                                           completed
13                            Prowler (no description)                     K-King                   Issued traffic citation
14                            Police Services – Traffic, etc.             L-Lincoln               Issued parking ticket
15                            Disturbances Drunk                            M-Mary                 Advised legal help
16                            Disturbance inside                               N-Nora                   Accidental or defective alarm
                                                                                                O-Ocean                False – no prosecution
                                                                                                P-Paul                     Service rendered
                                                                                               X-Xray                   Clear from Code 19

Status Codes
Adam Robert  Arriving on scene
Charlie Robert  Clearing assignment that does not require miscel code or report
Ocean Nora  Logging on the air
Ocean Frank  Logging off the air

City of Boston Trunked System

Most City of Boston departments use the city's 800 Mhz trunk system. I am including the talk groups for the public safety related services only. The Boston Police have talk groups on the system, but use is very uncommon.

 For a listing of the whole system look at Stephen Johnson's City of Boston Trunking System Page

FREQUENCIES: 851.5375,852.1875,856-860.7625,856-860.9375
(Type 1 Uniden Fleet Map usr B0-0 B1-4 B2-4 B3-10 B4-10 B5-4 B6-12)

FLEET 301 PUBLIC FACILITIES
301-1   Public Safety Emergency
301-2   Dispatch (Municipal Building Police)
301-3   Warrant Listing (F2)
301-4   Technicians (F3)
301-5   City Hall Security/Administration  (F4)
301-6   Regrouping (F5)
301-7   Reserved
FLEET 302 HOUSING AUTHORITY
302-1   Public Safety Emergency  
302-2   Housing Police   (moved to 453.350)
302-3   Special Operations (F12)
302-4   Supervisors (F13)
302-5   Reserved
302-6   Reserved
302-7   Reserved

Boston Emergency Medical Services    

Channels 1-8 are MED 1-8

09                        462.950R                                   151.4                                                       Tactical                     

10                        462.975R                                   151.4                                                       Citywide Dispatch

11                        458.1375R                                 97.4                                                         Simplex (portable only)          

12                        460.550R                                   192.8                                                       Tactical (old TAC 11)

13                        458.0625                                   210.7                                                       Simplex (portable only)

14                        460.525R                                   192.8/DVP                                             Secure communication           

15  (new 5/15/02)      453.100R                                   151.4                                                       Simulcasting Tac10 **  

16                        453.775R                                   156.7                                                       Communications Engineering

**Could possibly become a new dispatch channel. A new statewide EMS plan is being worked on which could cause BostonEMS to loose exclusive use of 462.975 for dispatch.

Channels 11 and 13 are receive only in mobile units. The Communications Engineering Section uses channel 16.
Old channel 15 was 460.525 simplex with DVP.

Boston EMS is the 9-1-1 service for the City of Boston. Operated by the Public Health Commission, Boston EMS is a third service system. All BLS units are staffed by two EMTs, and two paramedics staff all ALS units. In addition to ALS and BLS units, Boston EMS also operates bicycle units during the warm weather and for special events. Also during the warm weather months EMTs are assigned to Boston Police Department Harbor Patrol boats. Boston EMS also has two Special Operations trucks that are equipped for use at Mass Casualty Incidents or incidents with potential for large numbers of patients.

All Boston EMS BLS ambulances and supervisor vehicles are equipped with Semi Automatic Defibrillators.  Boston and Massachusetts Port Authority Fire Departments act as first responders and are also equipped with SAEDs. In addition many private and public facilities in Boston have SAEDs of their own. The Boston EMS training division provides Training and Quality Control for all SAED users in the city. In addition numerous private and public organizations in Boston provide Public Access Defibrillation, with training and quality assurance provided by Boston EMS.

Boston EMS has recently installed mobile computers in the ambulances and other vehicles. Most dispatch and response information will be transmitted by Mobile Data Work Station (MDW), which will significantly reduce the amount of voice traffic on the dispatch channels. Added future enhancements will include digital mapping, and eventually report writing software. By the end of 2000, all ambulances, supervisory and command vehicles will have MDWs installed.

Boston EMS Unit Call signs and Station Locations

Call sign   Station Location              Primary Response Area  

Ambulance 1                           Purchase Street                                  Downtown Boston
Ambulance 2                           Warren St/Edgewood St                    Roxbury (Dudley)
Ambulance 3                           Morton St/Blue Hill Ave                       Mattapan
Ambulance 5                           Faulkner Hospital                                West Roxbury
Ambulance 6                           101 W. Broadway                               South Boston
Ambulance 7                            Logan Airport                                      East Boston
Ambulance 8+                          Glynn Way %                                      Downtown/East Boston
Ambulance 9                            (Future unit)                                         Roxbury Crossing
Ambulance 10+                      Glynn Way                                          Dorchester/South Boston
Ambulance 11                         Gibson Street                                      Dorchester
Ambulance 12+                      River Street                                         Roxbury/Dorchester
Ambulance 13                         Washington St/Green St                   Jamaica Plain
Ambulance 14                         Washington St Brighton                  Allston/Brighton
Ambulance 15*                      Main Street                                         Charlestown
Ambulance 16+                      Beth Israel Hospital                           Back Bay/South End
Ambulance 17#                      With Ambulance 13                           Roslindale Square (when in Service)
Ambulance 18                         Dana Ave                                            Hyde Park
Paramedic 1                             With Ambulance 1                             Downtown/East Boston/South Boston
Paramedic 2                             With Ambulance 2                             Roxbury/Dorchester
Paramedic 3*                           With Ambulance 12                           Mattapan/Dorchester
Paramedic 5                             With Ambulance 5                             Hyde Park/West Roxbury/Jamaica Plain
Paramedic 16+                         With Ambulance 16                           Brighton/Back Bay/South End
Ambulance 20-29                   Future Primary BLS units
Ambulance 30-39                   Reserve BLS units
Paramedic 40-49                      Reserve ALS units
Ambulance 50-54                   BLS special event units
Paramedic 55-59                      ALS special event units
Ambulance 60-64                   BLS detail units
Paramedic 65-69                      ALS Detail units
Squad 70-79                            BLS non transporting units
Squad 80-89                            ALS non transporting units
Ambulance 90-94                   BLS training units
Paramedic 95-99                      ALS Training units
Division 1                                North Side Supervisor
Division 2                                South Side Supervisor
Sierra 3-9                                  Reserve Supervisor complement
EMTxxx                                    EMTs individual numbers
Medicxxx                                  Paramedics individual numbers
Mxx                                           Fleet Maintenance vehicles
Sxx                                            Supply, Fleet Maintenance Personnel
Academy 101, ...                     Personnel assigned to Training and Quality  Improvement Section
Xray xx                                   Bicycle Units, operational during warm months, and for special events
Gold 1                                     Domestic Violence Outreach Unit
HU-2                                        Harbor Unit, EMTs assigned to Boston  Police Harbor patrol boat during spring  and  summer months.
HU-x                                         Additional Harbor Units, for special  events.
C1 through C9                        Command Staff
C10 through C19                    Shift Commanders
TC411                                       Captain-Special Operations
Tango 1                                                 Special Operations Truck North
Tango 2                                   Special Operations Truck South
C20 through C22                    Captains assigned to Training Section
C30 through C65                    Individual Supervisor Call Signs

+ Units in service 20 hours per day, unless extra staffing permits.
*Units in service 16 hours per day, unless extra staffing permits.
% Temporary, will be moved to new station in the future.
#  In service as staffing permits

Boston Fire Department

 Excellent Site on Boston Fire Radio: http://bfdradio.net

Boston Fire is also licensed for two 800 MHz channels (867.8625, 868.8625) which are scheduled to be used for MDTs in the future.

In addition to tone alerting on 453.650, Boston Fire Alarm "taps out" boxes on Channel 1.  "45" followed by a box number denotes working fire. 2 through 7 followed by a box number denote the alarm level .