Police Codes of Argentina – Complete List

People searching for “police codes of Argentina” usually want one of three things: the right number to dial when something goes wrong, the way Argentine police spell names and plates over the radio, or a sense of which force does what in a country that runs a lot of them at once. This guide covers all three, and it’s straight with you about a common misconception. Argentina does not use a single public list of numbered radio codes the way American police lean on their “10-4” ten-codes. What it has instead is a clear set of emergency phone numbers, a standard phonetic alphabet, and a federal patchwork of police forces.

The one number to memorise before anything else: 911. It works across most of the country, connects you to police, fire, or medical help, and is free from any phone, 24 hours a day. Everything below fills in the detail around that.

How Policing Works in Argentina

Argentina is a federal country, and its policing reflects that. There isn’t one national police that does everything. Responsibility is split between federal forces that operate nationwide and provincial forces that handle day-to-day policing inside their own borders. If you’ve read our breakdown of Brazil’s police codes, the federal-versus-state split will feel familiar, since Argentina’s neighbour organises its forces along similar lines.

The federal forces:

Policía Federal Argentina (PFA). The national civil police, with offices throughout the country. It investigates federal crimes, organised crime, drug and human trafficking, and runs Argentina’s Interpol bureau. Until 1 January 2017 it also policed the capital directly; that job has since passed to the city’s own force.

Gendarmería Nacional Argentina (GNA). A militarised security force that guards the borders, polices rural zones and national routes, and supports the justice system on complex cases. Its elite assault unit is the Escuadrón Alacrán.

Prefectura Naval Argentina (PNA). The naval police and the country’s sole maritime authority. It covers ports, rivers, lakes, and the coast, and you reach it for water emergencies on 106. Its tactical unit is the Grupo Albatros.

Policía de Seguridad Aeroportuaria (PSA). Airport and aviation security, plus immigration control at air terminals.

The provincial and city forces:

Each of the 23 provinces plus the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires runs its own police, focused on urban prevention and common crime within its territory. The two you’re most likely to encounter:

• Policía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (the Bonaerense) — one of the largest forces in the country, with over 90,000 personnel, policing a province that holds close to 40% of Argentina’s population. Its special-operations unit is the Grupo Halcón.
• Policía de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires — the capital’s municipal force, created in 2017 from the merger of the old Metropolitan Police and the PFA’s city division, with around 25,000 officers across more than 50 stations.

Every jurisdiction also keeps a Cuerpo de Guardia de Infantería, the riot police you’ll see at protests and football matches. The system overlaps in places, but federal and provincial forces are legally required to cooperate, and 911 sits across the whole thing.

Argentine Emergency and Dialing Codes (The Complete List)

This is what most people mean by “police codes” in Argentina. Save the ones that apply to you.

A practical note for visitors: in cities where 911 hasn’t absorbed every service, the older three-digit numbers (101, 100, 107) still work as direct lines. If you don’t know which applies where you are, 911 is the safe default. Argentina’s 911 setup is modelled on the same approach used in the United States, and our overview of US police codes shows where that system came from.

Specialised Helplines

Beyond the general emergency numbers, Argentina runs several free, nationwide, 24/7 lines for specific situations. These are official services operated by national ministries.

The 144 line in particular handles well over a hundred thousand contacts a year, and calls can be made by phone or WhatsApp.

The Argentine Police Phonetic Alphabet

When an officer reads a licence plate, a surname, or an address over the radio, they spell it out so letters that sound alike don’t get confused. Argentine forces, like aviation and the military worldwide, rely on the international NATO/ICAO spelling alphabet for this.

Informally, on phone calls and at counters, Argentines also spell using a Spanish-names alphabet. There’s no single fixed list, and the words shift from person to person, but this is a common form:

The international alphabet is the one used for anything that has to be precise, since it’s understood the same way everywhere.

Radio Codes and Communication Shorthand

Here’s the part that trips people up. Argentina has no single, official, public numeric code list equivalent to American ten-codes. You’ll find websites listing things like “código rojo / amarillo / verde” or borrowed 10-codes and presenting them as Argentine police standards, but those are generic, often copied from US or other Latin American sources, and not an official nationwide system. Codes and claves do exist internally, but they vary between forces and provinces and are largely kept off the public record for operational reasons.

What officers actually rely on, beyond plain Spanish, are:

• The phonetic alphabet above, for spelling names, plates, and addresses.
• Indicativos — radio call signs that identify a particular patrol car, unit, or officer.
• Some international Q-codes, a radio shorthand more common in maritime and amateur radio but occasionally heard in security communications.

A few Q-codes you might come across:

If you want to see a country that genuinely built out detailed numeric radio codes, Mexico is a useful comparison — our guide to Mexico’s police codes lays that out.

The Legal Codes Argentine Police Enforce

“Police codes” can also mean the body of law officers work within, and this is well documented in Argentina. The forces operate under a layered set of national and provincial laws:

• Código Penal de la Nación (Law 11.179) — the criminal code defining offences and penalties nationwide.
• Código Procesal Penal Federal and the various provincial procedural codes — the rules for investigations, arrests, and trials.
• Ley de Seguridad Interior (Law 24.059) — coordinates how the federal forces work together.
• Force-specific charters such as Law 19.349 (Gendarmería), Law 18.398 (Prefectura), and provincial statutes like Law 13.482 for the Buenos Aires provincial police.
• Ley Nacional de Tránsito (Law 24.449) — the traffic rules enforced by provincial police and highway units.

Italy runs a comparable mix of national codes and a gendarmerie-style force, a structure many Argentines will recognise given the country’s deep Italian roots; our look at Italy’s police codes covers that parallel.

Tips for Tourists and Expats

A few things that make life easier:

• Default to 911. If you’re unsure who to call or your Spanish is shaky, this is always the right choice.
• Know the older direct lines. Outside the big unified zones, 101 (police), 100 (fire), and 107 (medical) still work as standalone numbers.
• Carry ID. Federal and provincial officers can request identification during checks and operations.
• Match the force to the place. In the capital you’ll deal with the Policía de la Ciudad; on the highways and borders, the Gendarmería; on the water, the Prefectura; in the provinces, the local force.
• Report serious crimes in person at a police station (comisaría) to file a formal denuncia.

Germany organises its federal and state policing along broadly similar lines, which is worth a glance if you’re comparing how federations split the job — see our guide to Germany’s police codes.

Using Police Code to Explore Further

Police Code is a global police code explorer built to make this kind of information easy to find. Rather than stitching together emergency numbers, force structures, phonetic alphabets, and legal references from a dozen scattered pages, you can browse a single organised database covering countries around the world. Whether you’re a traveller, an expat settling in, a writer after authenticity, or simply curious about how different countries handle policing, the platform brings legal codes, regulations, and procedures into one place so you can find what you need quickly.