10-20 (also written 1020 or 10/20) means location in all 12 official police code lists in the table below. In the Phoenix Police Department’s list and the San Jose Police Department’s list, the entry is simply “Location”.
APCO’s 1974 standard list and its 1955 recommended list, the oldest lists covered here, both give 10-20 as location. The NYPD is not in the table, because we did not find a 10-code list published by the NYPD.
What 10-20 means
In all 12 lists in the table below, 10-20 is location or a question or request about location. Nine give just “Location”: the two APCO lists, Phoenix, Tucson, Cotati, Fontana, San Jose, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, and Ogden City Police Department (which uses the State of Utah 10-code list).
Three lists phrase it as a question or request. Coolidge Police Department’s list reads “What is your location?”, Coral Springs Police Department’s reads “Your location?” and the California Highway Patrol’s aural brevity card says “Location requested”.
10-20 meaning by agency
Here is how each agency or list words the code, including the two APCO lists.
| Agency or list | What 10-20 means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| APCO standard list (1974) | Location | APCO 1974 brevity code |
| APCO recommended list (1955) | Location | APCO 1955 ten signals |
| Coolidge Police Department (AZ) | What is your location? | Coolidge PD general orders |
| Phoenix Police Department (AZ) | Location | Phoenix PD radio codes |
| Tucson Police Department (AZ) | Location | Tucson PD radio codes |
| California Highway Patrol (CA) | Location requested | CHP aural brevity card |
| Cotati Police Department (CA) | Location | Cotati PD communications manual |
| Fontana Police Department (CA) | Location | Fontana PD communications manual |
| San Jose Police Department (CA) | Location | San Jose PD 10-code guide |
| Metropolitan Police Department (DC) | Location | MPD radio handout |
| Coral Springs Police Department (FL) | Your location? | Coral Springs PD ten codes |
| Ogden City Police Department (UT) | LocationUses the State of Utah 10-code list | Ogden PD policy 25 |
NYPD and 10-20
The New York City Police Department has its own system, and we did not find a 10-code list published by the NYPD, so there is no NYPD row in the table. The NYPD’s calls-for-service data on NYC Open Data describes its radio code field as the “NYPD code used to inform NYPD member of service the nature of the call”, and prints codes without the 10- prefix.
We therefore make no claim about what 10-20 means in New York. Every list in the table gives location, or a question or request about location.
How 10-20 is used on the radio
Most lists give 10-20 as the single word location. Where a list words it as a question, such as Coolidge’s “What is your location?”, the code is used to ask a unit for its location, and the California Highway Patrol’s “Location requested” is the request form. Tucson and the other plain “Location” lists say the same thing in one word.
For example, a dispatcher might radio: “Unit, what is your 10-20?” and the unit would reply with where it is. For other ways to ask for or report a location, see our page on the police code for location, or the full list of 10 codes.
FAQ
What does 10-20 mean in police code?
In all 12 official lists in our table, 10-20 means location or asks for a location. That includes the APCO 1974 standard list and the Phoenix, Tucson and San Jose police department lists.
What is a 10/20?
A 10/20 is 10-20 written with a slash. In the published lists it means location, or a question or request about location.
Is 1020 the same as 10-20?
Yes. 1020 is 10-20 written without the hyphen, and it has the same meaning: location in every list in the table.
What does 10-20 mean in the NYPD?
We did not find a 10-code list published by the NYPD, so we cannot give an official NYPD meaning. Every list in our table gives location, or a question or request about location.
Sources
- Public Safety Communication Aural Brevity Code (APCO Project 14, Exhibit No. 7, p. 60), APCO (Associated Public-Safety Communications Officers). Updated 1974. Standard list Checked October 2026
- Standard "Ten Signals", The APCO Bulletin, April 1957, p. 7 (list prepared by the National Operating Procedure Committee in 1955), APCO (Associated Public-Safety Communications Officers). Updated April 1957. Standard list Checked October 2026
- General Orders Chapter 81: Communications (81.1.2 Communication Codes), Coolidge Police Department. Updated 6-24-13. Official Checked October 2026
- Phoenix Police Department – Radio Codes – Numerical Order, Phoenix Police Department. Updated 3/17/26. Official Checked October 2026
- Tucson Police Department Radio Codes, Tucson Police Department. Official Checked October 2026
- CHP 254 – Aural Brevity Card (01-2021 v2), California Highway Patrol. Official Checked October 2026
- Communications and Records Training Manual, Cotati Police Department. Official Checked October 2026
- Communications Training Manual, Fontana Police Department. Updated Revised 7/17/24. Official Checked October 2026
- SJPD 10-Codes (study guide), San Jose Police Department. Updated 10/15/18. Official Checked October 2026
- 2.2 Use of Police Radios (training handout), Metropolitan Police Department. Official Checked October 2026
- Ten Codes (Communications), Coral Springs Police Department. Official Checked October 2026
- Policy 25: Use of Police Radio, Ogden City Police Department. Updated May 16, 2022. Official Checked October 2026
- NYPD Calls for Service (Year to Date): RADIO_CODE and TYP_DESC fields, City of New York (NYC Open Data). Official Checked October 2026