11-86 (also written 1186, 11 86 or 11/86) is a rare police radio code with two meanings in the lists that print it. The California Highway Patrol’s aural brevity card gives “Bomb threat”. The Atherton, Belmont and Cotati police departments’ manuals give “traffic stop”.
Only four of the 46 official lists we checked print 11-86, and all four are from California. A single agency’s own list is the only reliable guide to what it means there.
What 11-86 means
In the CHP’s list, 11-86 sits between 11-85 “Tow truck” and 11-87 “Bomb found”, so the two bomb codes are next to each other. In the Atherton, Belmont and Cotati lists, 11-85 is also “tow truck”, but 11-86 is “traffic stop”. Atherton and Belmont add 11-87 “wash down”; Cotati’s partial list has no 11-87.
11-86 meaning by agency
Each published meaning we have is listed below, with its source.
| Agency or list | What 11-86 means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Atherton Police Department (CA) | Traffic stop | Atherton PD dispatch manual |
| Belmont Police Department (CA) | Traffic stop | Belmont PD dispatcher manual |
| California Highway Patrol (CA) | Bomb threat | CHP aural brevity card |
| Cotati Police Department (CA) | Traffic stop | Cotati PD communications manual |
Three of the four entries say traffic stop (Atherton, Belmont and Cotati) and one says bomb threat (the CHP). All four are California agencies.
11-86 and the codes next to it
The same stretch of the lists reads like this:
- California Highway Patrol: 11-84 “Direct traffic”, 11-85 “Tow truck”, 11-86 “Bomb threat”, 11-87 “Bomb found”.
- Atherton and Belmont: 11-84 “traffic control”, 11-85 “tow truck”, 11-86 “traffic stop”, 11-87 “wash down”.
- Cotati: 11-84 “Traffic Control”, 11-85 “Tow Truck”, 11-86 “Traffic Stop”.
The lists agree up to 11-85 and then diverge. That is typical of 11-codes: each agency publishes its own, and they overlap only in part. See all 11 codes.
Other codes for a bomb threat
Other lists give a bomb threat under different codes. Atherton, Belmont and Cotati list “Code 10” for bomb threat, so in their manuals the bomb threat is not 11-86. The San Jose, Sebastopol, Arcata and Colorado Springs police departments also use Code 10, and Folsom prints Code 10 as “BOMB”.
Numbered codes differ again: 10-34 in Tucson, 10-45 in the Waynesville, Missouri and Winston-Salem, North Carolina lists, 10-89 in Ogden City and in the Washington, DC handout, and 707 in Phoenix. The only list we found with 11-87 as “Bomb found” is the CHP’s.
How 11-86 is used on the radio
The CHP card and the other manuals define the code but do not describe a procedure. The one usage example we found is in Belmont’s dispatcher manual. In its guidance on emergency traffic when several units transmit at once, it suggests the dispatcher say: “multiple units, unit going 11-86, go ahead.” The manual does not explain the choice of code, and its own list gives 11-86 as “traffic stop”, so we read nothing more into it.
FAQ
What does 11-86 mean in police code?
In the California Highway Patrol’s list, 11-86 is “Bomb threat”. The Atherton, Belmont and Cotati police departments list it as “traffic stop”. Only these four of the 46 official lists we checked print 11-86.
What is 11/86?
11/86 is 11-86 written with a slash. 1186 and 11 86 are the same code written without the hyphen or with a space. The meanings are the same: “Bomb threat” in the CHP’s list and “traffic stop” in Atherton, Belmont and Cotati.
Is 11-86 a bomb threat?
In the California Highway Patrol’s list, yes. Atherton, Belmont and Cotati list it as a traffic stop and use Code 10 for bomb threat instead.
What is 11-87?
In the California Highway Patrol’s list, 11-87 is “Bomb found”. The Atherton and Belmont police departments list it as “wash down”.
Sources
- Dispatch Training Manual 2020, Atherton Police Department. Updated 2-2020. Official Checked October 2026
- Dispatcher Training Manual, Belmont Police Department. Updated June 21, 2019. 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
- SJPD 10-Codes (study guide), San Jose Police Department. Updated 10/15/18. Official Checked October 2026
- Dispatch Training Manual, Sebastopol Police Department. Updated April 28, 2022. Official Checked October 2026
- Communications Training Manual (radio codes), Arcata Police Department. Official Checked October 2026
- General Order 1063 (radio communications), Colorado Springs Police Department. Updated 12/26/2024. Official Checked October 2026
- Communications Manual (radio codes, p. 32), Folsom Police Department. Updated rev. 2019. Official Checked October 2026
- Tucson Police Department Radio Codes, Tucson Police Department. Official Checked October 2026
- Policy 25: Use of Police Radio, Ogden City Police Department. Updated May 16, 2022. Official Checked October 2026
- 2.2 Use of Police Radios (training handout), Metropolitan Police Department. Official Checked October 2026
- Phoenix Police Department – Radio Codes – Numerical Order, Phoenix Police Department. Updated 3/17/26. Official Checked October 2026
- Ten Codes, Waynesville Police Department. Official Checked October 2026
- Police Radio Codes, City of Winston-Salem. Official Checked October 2026