The NYPD runs its own ten-code system, and it isn’t quite like anyone else’s. Where most departments borrowed the APCO list, New York built a set with its own logic — including a clever trick where the same crime gets two different codes depending on whether it already happened or is happening right now. This guide lays out the full NYPD code list, explains the structure behind it, and flags the one code every New Yorker who’s seen a cop show has heard: 10-13.
The headline code: 10-13 means “assist police officer.” It’s the call that drops everything. When it goes out, units from across the area converge, because it signals that an officer needs urgent help.
How NYPD Radio Communication Works
The NYPD is the largest municipal police department in the United States, with well over 30,000 officers covering the five boroughs and a population of more than eight million. That scale demands a tight, fast radio language, and the department’s ten-codes are tuned for it.
The city is divided into precincts, and precincts into sectors, with patrol cars assigned to cover specific sectors. A unit’s radio identity ties to that geography, so dispatch and other officers know where a transmitting unit is working. Each precinct operates on a division radio frequency, and the dispatcher — working from a central communications operation — manages the flow of jobs across the commands they cover. This structure matters because it shapes how codes are used: a 10-13 isn’t just an abstract emergency; it’s an emergency at a known sector that pulls in the nearest cars first.
The system itself has a few layers. There are common codes for routine business — calling your command, acknowledging a message, standing by. There are crime codes that describe what kind of incident is unfolding. And there are mobilization codes that summon specific, pre-defined numbers of supervisors and officers when a situation grows beyond what the units on scene can handle. What makes the NYPD set distinctive is how it encodes crimes, which is worth understanding before reading the list. For the wider story of how American departments developed these systems differently, our overview of US police codes gives the national backdrop.
The NYPD Past-vs-In-Progress Trick
Here’s the clever part. NYPD pairs each major crime with two codes: one for a crime that already happened, and one for a crime in progress. The “in progress” version is ten higher than the “past” version.
- 10-20 is a robbery (past). 10-30 is a robbery in progress.
- 10-21 is a burglary (past). 10-31 is a burglary in progress.
- 10-22 is a larceny (past). 10-32 is a larceny in progress.
- 10-24 is an assault (past). 10-34 is an assault in progress.
- 10-25 is child abuse (past). 10-35 is child abuse in progress.
That single digit — the 2 versus the 3 — instantly tells every listening unit whether they’re responding to a report or racing to an active scene. A “past” crime means taking a report, canvassing, and writing it up; an “in progress” crime means the suspect may still be there and seconds matter. Encoding that difference into the code itself, rather than relying on the dispatcher to spell it out every time, is an elegant solution to a real dispatch problem, and it’s a signature of the NYPD system that you won’t find in most other departments.
NYPD Codes (The Full List)
Below is the NYPD ten-code set. As with any department, meanings can be refined internally over time, so use this as the established reference.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 10-1 | Call your command |
| 10-2 | Return to your command |
| 10-3 | Call dispatcher by phone |
| 10-4 | Acknowledgment |
| 10-5 | Repeat message |
| 10-6 | Stand by |
| 10-7 | Verify address/location |
| 10-10 | Possible crime (with letter suffix: S-shots fired, F-firearm, K-knife, H-help needed, N-narcotics, P-suspicious person, V-suspicious vehicle) |
| 10-11 | Alarm (type specified) |
| 10-12 | Officer or security holding a suspect |
| 10-13 | Assist police officer (urgent) |
| 10-14 | Licence plate check — occupied and suspicious |
| 10-15 | Licence plate check — verify if stolen |
| 10-16 | Vehicle reported stolen |
| 10-17 | Vehicle not reported stolen |
| 10-18 | Warrant check shows active warrant |
| 10-19 | Warrant check negative |
| 10-20 | Robbery (past) |
| 10-21 | Burglary (past) |
| 10-22 | Larceny (past) |
| 10-24 | Assault (past) |
| 10-25 | Child abuse (past) |
| 10-29 | Other crime (past) |
| 10-30 | Robbery in progress |
| 10-31 | Burglary in progress |
| 10-32 | Larceny in progress |
| 10-33 | Explosive device or threat |
| 10-34 | Assault in progress |
| 10-35 | Child abuse in progress |
| 10-39 | Other crime in progress |
| 10-44 | Suspicious substance reported (bio/chem) |
| 10-45 | Mobilization: 4 sergeants, 20 officers |
| 10-46 | Mobilization: 1 lieutenant, 8 sergeants, 40 officers |
| 10-47 | Additional mobilization as directed |
| 10-53 | Vehicle accident |
| 10-54 | Ambulance case (with suffix: C-cardiac, B-burn, S-serious, U-unconscious, H-heavy bleeder, EDP-emotionally disturbed person) |
| 10-85 | Need additional unit |
| 10-90 | Disposition/status of job |
Why 10-13 Carries So Much Weight
Of every code on the list, 10-13 is the one that changes a shift. “Assist police officer” means a member of the service needs help now, and it pulls units from across the surrounding sectors and precincts. When a 10-13 comes over the air, the normal flow of routine jobs stops; available units acknowledge and roll, and supervisors track the response. The NYPD also uses qualifiers on related transmissions — indicating whether the officer needing help is in uniform (U), in plainclothes (Z), or whether the report is unverified (X) — so responding units have a clearer picture before they arrive. Knowing whether you’re backing up a uniformed officer at a known location or responding to an unverified call about a plainclothes cop changes how you approach.
The weight the department places on this single transmission is part of why it shows up so often in film and television set in New York, and why the number “10-13” is recognised even by people who’ve never touched a police radio. Within the department, the bond the code represents — that any officer in trouble will be answered — is close to sacred.
The Mobilization Codes
The 10-45 through 10-47 mobilization codes deserve a closer look, because they’re another distinctive piece of the NYPD system. Rather than improvising how many officers to send to a large or escalating incident, the NYPD has pre-defined response packages. A given mobilization level automatically calls a set number of sergeants, lieutenants, and officers — for example, four sergeants and twenty officers, or a lieutenant with eight sergeants and forty officers. This lets a commander scale up a response to a major disorder, a large search, or a developing emergency with a single transmission, knowing exactly what manpower it summons. It’s the organisational equivalent of the crime codes: complex information compressed into a number.
The Phonetic Alphabet NYPD Uses
When officers need to spell a name, an address, or a plate clearly over a busy channel, they use the NATO phonetic alphabet.
| Letter | Word | Letter | Word | Letter | Word |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Alfa | J | Juliett | S | Sierra |
| B | Bravo | K | Kilo | T | Tango |
| C | Charlie | L | Lima | U | Uniform |
| D | Delta | M | Mike | V | Victor |
| E | Echo | N | November | W | Whiskey |
| F | Foxtrot | O | Oscar | X | X-ray |
| G | Golf | P | Papa | Y | Yankee |
| H | Hotel | Q | Quebec | Z | Zulu |
| I | India | R | Romeo |
NYPD Codes Aren’t New York State Codes
A common mix-up: the NYPD code list is specific to the city department. The New York State Police and the many county and town agencies across the rest of the state use their own systems, which differ from the NYPD set and from each other. A 10-code overheard in Buffalo, on the Thruway, or out on Long Island won’t necessarily match a code from a Manhattan precinct. This is the same fragmentation that runs through American policing generally, where there’s no central authority mandating one code list, and where roughly 18,000 agencies each set their own conventions. For how the broader ten-code tradition is organised, see our US police code category and the dedicated US 10-codes section.
It’s also worth noting that, like other large agencies, the NYPD has shifted a good deal of routine radio traffic toward plain language over the years, particularly for incidents that involve coordinating with outside agencies or with the FDNY and EMS. The codes remain in active use — and 10-13 will never go anywhere — but they no longer carry the channel alone. A modern NYPD transmission often blends a code with plain English, especially on big, fast-moving jobs where clarity beats brevity.
Tips for Understanding NYPD Scanner Traffic
- Anchor on 10-13. If you learn one NYPD code, learn this one — it’s the emergency that reshapes the channel and the most important transmission on it.
- Read the 2-versus-3 pattern. A 10-2X is a past crime; a 10-3X is the same crime in progress. That digit tells you whether the suspect may still be on scene.
- Listen for letter suffixes. A 10-54 with a “C” is a cardiac case; a 10-10 with an “S” is shots fired. The suffix often carries the most urgent detail.
- Recognise the mobilization codes. 10-45 and up mean a large, pre-defined response is being summoned to something serious.
- Don’t confuse city with state. NYPD codes don’t transfer to the State Police or upstate agencies.
- Expect plain language too. Modern NYPD traffic blends codes with English, especially on big jobs.
Using Police Code to Explore Further
Police Code is a global police code explorer that brings scattered radio shorthand into one searchable place. Instead of stitching together meanings from old message boards and dramatised TV lists, you can look up an NYPD code, compare it to other agencies, and see the legal references behind it in a single organised database. It’s free to use and built for scanner listeners, journalists, writers chasing authenticity, and anyone preparing for a role in the field. The master police code lists page is a good hub to branch out from, and it lets you set the NYPD’s distinctive structure against the systems used by other major departments.
The short version for New York is this: the NYPD system rewards a little study because so much of its intelligence is built into the numbers themselves. The past-versus-in-progress pairing, the letter suffixes, the mobilization packages, and above all the weight of 10-13 turn a stream of digits into a remarkably efficient picture of what’s happening across the five boroughs. Learn the structure, not just the list, and the city’s radio traffic opens up.