[Scan-DC] Arlington County PD Unit Numbering

[David Staples]

All,

Thanks for the input!  The beat numbers listed on Arlington County's
website match up with what I've been hearing, although the numbering scheme
of the actual beats seems to be a bit random.  The XXXX 351/451 units don't
seem to fit the pattern, but I guess they are probably traffic units as
Doug and Andy theorized.

Dave

On Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 10:55 AM, Doug Kitchener <oldsdoug at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
> Just for grins:
>
> In Montgomery County, the DUI units are numbered 9-Whiskey #!  :)
>
> The canine units used to be 9-King (#); now they're just K9 # (or Canine
> #).
>
> Re the numbers like "451" in Arlington; I believe that in Montgomery, the
> traffic units are similarly all 3-digit # in the 50s, with the station (or
> district) # being the first digit, ie 151, 351, 351, 451, 551, 651 being
> traffic units from Rockville, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Wheaton, Germantown,
> and Gaithersburg respectively.  Some of them operate either cars or
> motorcycles - if on a motorcycle, the call would be Motor 451; if in a
> cruiser, just 451 (or maybe Car 451).  Point being that Arlington may be
> using something similar.
>
> More relatively useless information to complicate things:
>
> In Ocean City MD, the cops there go by their badge numbers, which are
> 8000-numbers (ie, 8458).  Worcester County Sherrifs have 6000-numbers, ie
> 6440.
>
> DK
>
> ----------------------------------------
> > From: andrew_w_clegg at hotmail.com
> > To: stapledavid at gmail.com; scan-dc at mailman.qth.net
> > Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:17:01 -0500
> > Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] Arlington County PD Unit Numbering
> >
> > Hi Dave --
> >
> > I hesitate to reply, because I certainly can't explain the Arlington
> > numbering system to the standard of detail that others in this group have
> > described numbering for other localities, but since nobody else has
> replied,
> > here's my very simplistic understanding:
> >
> > Police unit numbers are usually something like Charlie 23, or Baker 31
> (or
> > even Adam 12 -- I like that one!)
> >
> > The letter of the unit is the schedule (A = daywatch, B=evenings,
> > C=midnights)
> >
> > The first digit of the unit number is the district (1, 2, or 3) that
> unit is
> > based in. A district map can be found here:
> >
> http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/Police/districts/PoliceDistrictsDistrict1.aspx
> .
> >
> > The full number refers to the beat within the district.
> >
> > The smaller the number, the more important the person is (Baker 1 is the
> > evening commander, for example).
> >
> > There are also special identifiers, like "Motor 1". Those are the
> motorcycle
> > officers.
> >
> > Then there's "P40" like numbers. Those are the meter maids (sorry,
> parking
> > enforcement). They usually aren't on the dispatch channel, unless
> there's an
> > emergency.
> >
> > There are also designators for DUI enforcement. I can't recall right off
> the
> > top of my head what those are -- sorry. I'll remember as soon as I send
> this
> > email.
> >
> > I hear unit numbers that I can't explain -- like I just heard Unit 451
> on a
> > traffic stop. I don't know how those numbers are defined. Maybe those are
> > dedicated to traffic enforcement?
> >
> > That's about the extent of my understanding. I am certain that this is a
> > gross oversimplification and someone on this list can provide an entire
> > textbook on the topic, but I thought I'd chime in a little instead of
> > leaving your question unanswered.
> >
> > Hope this helps.
> >
> > Andy
>
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