San Diego Sheriff Dispatch Codes

The San Diego County Sheriff's Phone Dispatcher Training Manual lists event codes used to describe calls for service. Its 1144, 1145 and 1146 entries distinguish a confirmed medical examiner's case, a suicide-related call and a caller's report of a possible death. These are Sheriff event definitions, not one codebook for every San Diego agency.

Printed pages 66 and 67 are both marked revised March 27, 2025. We reviewed the full 93-page supplied PDF on November 6, 2026. This is a selected explanation of its public code table, not a reproduction of the complete manual or a claim that every entry remains current on every channel.

Sheriff event types are not a universal radio list

The cover names the San Diego County Sheriff's Office Communications Center. That is not the San Diego Police Department. The manual describes Sheriff service in contract cities and unincorporated parts of the county; its codes should not be applied to every city agency simply because the location is San Diego County.

Printed pages 15-17 explain incident classification and computer-aided dispatch, often shortened to CAD. An event type describes the nature of an incident. A number in an event record, a spoken radio abbreviation and a legal section can look similar while serving different purposes. The scanner-versus-penal-code guide explains that distinction.

How to read the blue-marked entries

The note above the table says only radio dispatchers may use blue-highlighted codes as event types. Phone dispatchers may use those same codes in the documentation of a call for service. The tables below write out that restriction instead of relying on color, so it remains clear on mobile and for assistive technology.

This is an event-entry rule, not a severity ranking and not a ban on mentioning a code. For example, 1144 is marked blue; 1145 and 1146 are not. A reader must still keep each definition's application with its number.

1144, 1145, 1146 and related medical event labels

A report is not the same as confirmation. The distinction is especially important when someone may be injured or deceased. Read the source's qualification before drawing any conclusion about an individual incident.

See the individual explanations of 11-44 / 1144, 11-45 / 1145 and 11-46 / 1146. Their familiar hyphenated search spellings do not change the event-code scope of this manual.

Call, animal and assistance event labels

Suffixes carry information. The manual distinguishes a landline or VOIP incomplete call from the payphone and wireless variants. It also gives animal calls and assistance requests their own labels; these should not be inferred from another department's numbering.

Traffic, transport and special-detail labels

Some applications explicitly say "contract city," and the abandoned-vehicle entry has a Santee exception. Those limits are retained below. The crash suffix D identifies a Sheriff's vehicle; it does not mean death or a higher injury level.

1186 is not the CHP bomb-threat definition

The Sheriff table gives 1186 as a special detail and 1149 as a traffic stop. By comparison, the CHP card gives 11-86 as a bomb threat, while Atherton, Belmont and Cotati list 11-86 as a traffic stop. Those definitions cannot be combined into a single San Diego translation.

The 11-86 comparison keeps all three meanings attached to their documents. The 11-code hub also keeps this Sheriff event material separate from its original nine-list radio comparison. It does not turn an event-code table into a tenth vote for a universal meaning.

Using these tables without overstating a call

First identify the agency, then keep the complete code and any suffix. Next read the application rather than stopping at the short title. A 1146 record concerns a possible death report, an 1183 record has an unknown injury situation, and an 1186 record does not by itself identify a bomb threat.

Finally, treat the manual date as a limit. A published training document provides evidence for that edition, not proof of today's internal policy or a live incident outcome. For statewide context, use California scanner codes; for a different code family, start with the main code guide.

FAQ

Is this the San Diego Police Department code list?

No. The source is a San Diego County Sheriff's Office training manual. The city Police Department is a different agency and needs its own source.

What is the difference between 1144 and 1146?

1144 requires confirmation of death by a field unit or outside public safety agency. 1146 is a caller's report of a possibly deceased person.

Does 1145 always mean a suicide occurred?

No. Its application includes threats and attempts as well as actual suicide. The event label alone does not establish the outcome.

What does a blue-marked code mean?

Only radio dispatchers may select it as an event type; phone dispatchers may use it in call documentation. It is not a severity score.

What does D mean after a crash code?

For 1180D, 1181D, 1182D and 1183D in this table, D indicates that a Sheriff's vehicle was involved.

Are all Sheriff dispatch codes included here?

No. These tables cover the 36 labels beginning with 11 on printed pages 66-67, including suffix variants. The manual has other numbers and letter-based event types that are outside this guide.

Sources

1. Phone Dispatcher Training Manual, Other Codes and Application, printed pages 66-67 (PDF pages 67-68); classification context on printed pages 15-17, San Diego County Sheriff's Office, Communications Center. Updated March 27, 2025 (printed pages 66-67). Official Checked November 2026
2. CHP 254 – Aural Brevity Card (01-2021 v2), California Highway Patrol. Official Checked November 2026
3. Dispatch Training Manual 2020, Atherton Police Department. Updated 2-2020. Official Checked October 2026
4. Dispatcher Training Manual, Belmont Police Department. Updated June 21, 2019. Official Checked October 2026
5. Communications and Records Training Manual, Cotati Police Department. Official Checked October 2026