"OCD Clear"

I've been listening to scanners in LA for going on 20 years or so and there are a few catchphrases that are so rare that when I hear them broadcast it's like getting a little gift from the scanner gods.

LAFD's dispatchers have a few little gems that I always love catching in the clear. It's akin to finding secret levels or hidden "easter eggs" in video games. In the past few years, the soothing automated female dispatch voice and the gentle chimes have replaced the live human dispatching calls over station speakers. But when OCD used to do the honors, they always ended the dispatch by saying "OCD Clear." When they dispatch over the radio, 99% of the time, you'll never hear the "OCD Clear" sign-off, for reasons I don't fully understand.

But tonight I got a full dose of OCD in its glory. A Reported Smoke (RS) went down in FS61's first-in and the dispatch went over the scanner just like you'd hear it back in the day at the station. The dispatcher hit the long rings and then came on the air with a clipped, "Structure": a heads-up to the station that a structure fire dispatch was coming down the pike (and causing every guy in the station to start scrambling to the app bay). Then he dispatched the units and, the address, incident time, number and Tac channel and he ended the whole thing with a good, old-fashioned "OCD clear."

Ahhhhhh.

p.s. the fire was a bullshit curtains over space heater caper that was easily handled by the first alarm assignment.