Aerial roof markings

Aerial roof markings are symbols, letters or numbers on the roof of emergency vehicles, such as police cars, fire engines and ambulances to enable aircraft to identify them. These markings can be used to identify a specific vehicle, vehicle type or agency. The markings, depending on the vehicle, or information required, may also be displayed on the bonnet, boot, or other areas of the vehicle visible from the air.

Contents 1 Police Vehicles in Australia 1.1 New South Wales Police Force 2 Fire engines in Australia 3 Police Vehicles in the UK 3.1 Vehicle Usage Markings 3.2 Unique PNC force code 4 Fire engines in Germany 5 Ambulances in the EU 6 References

Police Vehicles in Australia

Different State police forces in Australia use different roof/aerial markings to designate specific vehicles, duty types and areas.

New South Wales Police Force

Local Area Commands vehicle bonnet/roof codes

AB	Albury	AS	Ashfield	BA	Barwon	BB	Botany Bay	BK	Bankstown
BL	Blue Mountains	BN	Blacktown	BR	Barrier	BU	Burwood	BW	Brisbane Water
CA	Campsie	CB	Canobolas	CC	Coffs/Clarence	CEH	Central Hunter	CF	Chifley
CI	City Central	CM	Cabramatta	CN	Camden	CS	Castlereagh	CT	Campbelltown
CU	Cootmundra	DL	Darling River	DQ	Deniliquin	EB	Eastern Beaches	ES	Eastern Suburbs
EW	Eastwood	FA	Fairfield	FL	Flemington	FS	Far South Coast	GF	Griffith
GL	Gladesville	GN	Goulburn	GV	Green Valley	HB	Hawkesbury	HI	The Hills
HR	Holroyd	HS	Harbourside	HU	Hurstville	HV	Hunter Valley	KU	Ku-Ring-Gai
KX	Kings Cross	LE	Leichhardt	LI	Lake Illawarra	LL	Lachlan	LM	Lake Macquarie
LP	Liverpool	MD	Mount Druitt	ME	Mudgee	MF	Macquarie Fields
MG	Manning/Great Lakes	MI	Miranda	ML	Manly	MN	Monaro	MC	Mid North Coast
MR	Marrickville	NB	Northern Beaches	NCC	Newcastle City	ND	New England	NS	North Shore
NT	Newtown	OR	Orana	OX	Oxley	PA	Parramatta	PE	Penrith
PTS	Port Stephens	QH	Quakers Hill	RB	Rose Bay	RF	Redfern	RH	Rosehill
RM	Richmond	RX	The Rocks	SG	St George	SH	Surry Hills	SM	St Marys
SU	Sutherland	SV	Shoalhaven	TB	Tweed/Byron	TL	Tuggerah Lakes	WG	Wollongong
WW	Wagga Wagga

Specialist squads/units and groups vehicle bonnet/roof codes

CIU	Crash Investigations Unit	CLG	NSW Police College	DOG	Dog Squad	FLT	Fleet trial vehicle
FMS	Fleet Management Services	FSG	Forensic Services Group	HWP	Highway Patrol	MDT	Mobile Data Terminal trial vehicle
MEOC	Middle East Organised Crimes Squad	MTD	Mounted Police	NWM	North Western Metro	OSG	Public Order Operations Support Group
PDT	Police Driver Training	PORS	Public Order & Riot Squad	R	Police Rescue	RES	Region Enforcement Squad
SLP	School Liaison Police	SWM	South West Metro	TOU	Tactical Operations Unit	ICV	Highway Patrol Camera Trial Vehicle

Fire engines in Australia

New South Wales

Fire and Rescue NSW fit aerial identification markings to appliances that are indicative of the vehicles callsign. Example: "RP001" indicates the appliance is the Rescue Pumper belonging to station 001, the City of Sydney while HH077 indicates the Heavy Hazmat support truck from St Marys fire station.

Fire and Rescue NSW aerial roof ID codes

P	Pumper	RP	Rescue Pumper	HP	Hazmat Pumper	HH	Heavy Hazmat
RT	Rescue Tanker	HT	Hazmat Tanker	R (HR)	Rescue (Heavy Rescue)	H (HH)	Hazmat (Heavy Hazmat)
AP	Aerial Pump	LP	Ladder PLatform	SEV	Service Exchange Vehicle (spare)	ICV	Incident Control Vehicle
SV	Logistical Support Vehicle	FIRU	Fire Investigations & Research Unit	USAR	Urban Search and Rescue	DC	Duty Commander

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service fits aerial identification numbers to rural fire appliances with the format consisting of the letter "B" (for Bush Fire) and the last 4 digits of the vehicles RTA approved operations plate. Example: “BF-07967” allocates an aerial ID of “7967”. These markings do not denote a vehicles callsign.^[1]

Police Vehicles in the UK

Police vehicles in the United Kingdom have markings of symbols, letters and numbers on their tops to enable aircraft to identify them. These markings show the use of the vehicle, its force code and a vehicle identifying mark or the police division to which the vehicle belongs.

Not every vehicle displays markings, but those involved in response and traffic generally do. This factor stems from guidelines of the Association of Chief Police Officers relating to police air operations and pursuit management.^[2]

Vehicle Usage Markings

• Armed Response Vehicle (ARV) — five-edged star
• Traffic/Incident Response Vehicle (IRV) — circle
• Dog Support Unit (DSU) — triangle
• Public Order (PO) personnel carrier — square

On a typical vehicle roof layout, the Vehicle Usage Marking is preceded by the accordand integer PNC Force Identifier; the individual (and within each organisation, unique) Vehicle Identifier, commonly alphanumeric, should occupy a second line all by itself.^[3]

Unique PNC force code

The Police National Computer (PNC) is used by UK police services and other government agencies to store and retrieve data about people, vehicles, and plant and government locations. Regarding roof markings, their inscription helps identifying the regional or institutional affiliation of each car. Note that PNC force codes are also used when custody records are created, when items are submitted to places such as the Forensic Science Service laboratory, or when documents are to be passed from one force to another.

Fire engines in Germany

In Germany, DIN 14035, "Dachkennzeichen für Feuerwehrfahrzeuge" (Roof Marking of Fire Engines), issued in November 1981,^[4] defines that fire engines should carry their registration plate number; these include the one-to-three letter abbreviation code of the corresponding Landkreis, thus making regional origin self-evident. The inscription is recommended to be at least 40cm in size; the font color should, in terms of roof painting, be "white on red", or "black on white and aluminium/metallic".^[5]

As DIN standards are, however, not generally binding in Germany, but mere recommendations, the scheme is not used everywhere, with some fire companies preferring visually appealing inscriptions like company name or logo. Many others show their cars' radio call signs (traditionally "Florian ##", cf. de:Funkrufname); over the years, various local efforts have been made to match both designations, aided by district administrations that reserved registered car like designations on principle.^[6]

Ambulances in the EU

CEN 1789, "Medical vehicles and their equipment - Road ambulances", reissued in 2007, recommends in its "informative" annex A "Recognition", that roofs of ambulance vehicles should bear the Red Cross/Crescent Emblems or the Star of Life, though use of the latter might be prohibited by copyright in several countries.

References

1. ^ http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/file_system/attachments/State08/Attachment_20101231_4670C695.pdf
2. ^ http://www.truckpol.com/downloads/43-04_Thermal_Roof_Markings.pdf Home Office Police Science Development Branch, publication 43/04 2004.
3. ^ Ibid., Appendix B
4. ^ Wichtige Normen für den Brandschutz. Retrieved on 2011-03-14
5. ^ FTZ Gifhorn: Dachkennzeichnung für Feuerwehrfahrzeuge. Retrieved on 2011-03-14
6. ^ Ibid., though only one example