ELGIN -- Last week, a man who appeared to be "10-56" created a bit of a "10-15" at the intersection of Villa and Chicago streets, when he was seen having a "10-10" with a light pole.

For many, that sentence doesn't make a whole lot of sense -- an account of a man who appeared to be intoxicated observed having an argument with a light pole that led to him kicking it several times before he ended up making his way across the street.

For members of law enforcement, a "coded" version of events at times can only provide a fraction of the details often needed when officers respond to a call. That's one of the factors behind a trend among law enforcement agencies in recent years to move away from the use of what traditionally has been known as "10-code" or "10-signals" in favor of plain language.

"There has been a movement in Elgin, probably at least over the past 10 years, to slowly start getting rid of them," Elgin Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Swoboda said. "We're not the point where we tell people you can't use them. It's just now it's OK to use either" code or plain language, he said.

First developed by the Illinois State Police in 1937, 10-code is a series of code numbers used to quickly communicate common phrases, such as 10-20 for "where are you?" or 10-4 for "message received."

Swoboda said the code has been used for years by law enforcement for the brief, concise and standardized manner it can convey messages. It also serves as a means of safeguarding certain information from third-party listeners.

"There are some (codes) that are used because they're quick, so everybody knows what's going on," he said. "And then there are ones for safety to make sure the officer isn't standing right by someone when sensitive information is being said."

Further development of the code occurred in the 1970s by the Association Of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International. The code has expanded over time to its current list, which goes from 10-0 to 10-99.

Ironically, it has been the code's popularity among police and other emergency responders that has led to one of its larger problems -- its use when different law enforcement agencies attempt to communicate.

Although APCO's 10-code numbers from 10-0 to 10-39 generally are accepted as standard throughout law enforcement, the same cannot be said of higher numbers, and many departments, including Elgin, have developed their own meanings for those code numbers.

The result can be confusion for police from other agencies. A code number used in one town can mean something completely different to police responding from somewhere else.

"If people had their own codes and it's not completely standard, then there's a problem with interoperability," Swoboda said.

Such concerns were highlighted in 2005, when communication breakdowns among emergency agencies in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina led to an overall slowdown in rescue efforts.

Swoboda said advances in radio technology over the years also have helped officers to rely less on using 10-codes.

"Rather than using codes, what we can do now is encrypt the radio system on more sensitive calls where even the officers who don't have an encrypted radio wouldn't be able to listen," he said. "Technology is coming to the point where if we need privacy, we can utilize technology instead of utilizing codes."