Radio ear, I don't get it.

[ANON-CO]

I've been on the job for almost 2 weeks now (Corrections) and I cannot for the life of me understand what they are saying on the radio.
I know most of my ten-codes but I have absolutely no understanding of the muffled nonsense coming from the speaker.
My FTO calls it radio ear and he said I will get it eventually but I'm starting to seriously get worried. Any ways to speed up the process?

[Keaner1476]

Don't just listen to it on duty. Listen to it on your off duty. That is the only way to get better and faster at it.

[just joe]

Your FTO told you correctly. I had four years on when I went from Dept A to Dept B and I had no idea what the dispatcher was saying at my new dept (different radio systems or something, I don't know), but you will catch on. If you are sitting in the car and not doing other things, closely listen to what is being said on the radio. Sometimes I asked, "what did he just say" in order to help put some sound recognition/identification references into my head. Hang in there!

[stormz5192]

I listen to my channel and 3 other zones with up to 4 departments on the each of the other zones. When it gets hectic, I turn scan off, but for the most part, I know whats going on in all the surrounding towns. Once you get used to it, it's not a problem. I guess several years of dispatching helped.

[Iowa #1603]

It will come.........................

[NYCDep]

I can drive around listening to the car FM radio, while talking on my cell phone, and still hear every call that comes over the radio without actively listening. It just takes your brain time to get used to it, almost like learning a foreign language. Once you get it, you got it for good.

[Iowa #1603]

I can drive around listening to the car FM radio, while talking on my cell phone, and still hear every call that comes over the radio without actively listening.

AND a scanner monitoring neighboring agencies.......................

[CruiserClass]

To clarify, is the sound muffled to the point that even if you're paying attention and have no distractions you can't understand what's being said?

[NoWingedAngel]

I've been on the job for almost 2 weeks now (Corrections) and I cannot for the life of me understand what they are saying on the radio.
I know most of my ten-codes but I have absolutely no understanding of the muffled nonsense coming from the speaker.
My FTO calls it radio ear and he said I will get it eventually but I'm starting to seriously get worried. Any ways to speed up the process?

One thing I've noticed that helps greatly is speaking to people in person. Nine times out of ten, you'll hear nothing but garbling from someone until you speak to them face-to-face, even only once. After that, it'll be easier for you to understand them.

I'm not sure how it works but it works. I assume its your brain saving speech nuances and turns of phrase in order to make patterns out of chaos.

[tanksoldier]

To clarify, is the sound muffled to the point that even if you're paying attention and have no distractions you can't understand what's being said?

That's the pertinent followup question.

If you're actively paying attention do you STILL have problems, or do you just miss the stuff said while you're focusing on something else?

If you're actively paying attention the "Huh?" moments will still occur, but if they are constant you may have some kind of underlying problem... or maybe your radios just suck. Ours do. They're just bad. Then you have to learn to relate the gibberish to actual English phrases. Most things that get said on the radio are variations of a few themes: Open a cell or door, respond to Pod x, y or Z, etc, etc. If you can figure that out the rest will come with time.

The ability to pay attention WITHOUT paying attention, that takes time.

[chapwolfe]

I've been at it for 15 years and I still ask myself, from time to time, what did he/she just say? To which I generally answer "I have no earthly idea."

But there is something to talking with folks in person. I once worked where I talked with four ladies from the same office over the phone and I could not tell them apart even after months. After I met them in person they didn't sound anything alike and I could tell them apart over the phone after just a word or two.

[Juno]

For me, it fell into place as I started to become familiar with my surroundings. At first I couldn't for the life of me remember which unit had just called in or where they were going, because those were just random words and numbers. Once I could visualize what street they were on and who they were, it was a snap.

When you get to know what time of day the inmates go where, who works what section, and what the slang is at your institution, the radio traffic will make more sense. And the more familiar you become with the voices of your co-workers, the less difficulty you will have figuring out what syllables they just spit into the mic.

[Lady Blue]

It will come with time. Even after several years on the job, I switched agencies and it took a while for me to adapt.

[Zeitgeist]

Alot of my co workers have very thick accents, there is one in particular that EVERYONE has difficulty understanding and the dispatchers are constantly asking him to repeat himself. IMO it's a safety hazard and I'm not sure why the guy was hired. Otherwise, I agree with the others--it will get better with time and you get to know your co workers' speech patterns etc

[jdthor]

As he mentioned hes working in corrections,The radios atleast the ones we had were old and just bad radios.

The only time they ever got replaced was if one happened to slide up against a wall during a conflict hard enough to break it