Before spring break our class talked about cultural differences and how conversational norms can vary. Well, over spring break I had the chance to ride along with my dad at work. My dad is a police officer for the city of Anderson. While riding along I got the chance to see how culture differences can occur at different jobs. When I was in the car I heard all of the different jargon used as a police officer. The police officers and dispatchers need ways to quickly communicate and make it so it is also clear. They use a lot of number codes to communicate to each other. Each unit has a different call number depending on their district and shift. Throughout the day I was constantly having to ask what different things meant since I am not a cop and constantly using them. For instance I learned things such as "signal 9" meant disregard. And when their unit number is called they give their location instead of the telling the dispatchers to go ahead and tell them what ever info they are needing. I got to learn first hand how important it is to know what jargon is being used in order to properly communicate. If a code is misunderstood it can mean completely different things and the cop could do the wrong thing in that situation. Communication is very important all the time for cops. It is also important for them to realize proper ways of handling situations depending on the type of people that they are dealing with on a call. It could be for things such as race, gender, or even the type of call that they are responding to.
-Matt
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