Are police scanners illegal?

[SandEagle]

can i keep one in my car? i think it would be cool to keep one and listen in once in awhile and all. anyone has one?

 

[jlee]

In some states it is illegal to have a scanner in your car. Check your local laws.

 

[Colt45]

I thought the cops were all on digital systems now anyways. So you'd be buying something obsolete and listening to dead air.

 

[BW86]

I have one in my house, don't know if its legal in a car.

 

[Loop2kil]

Originally posted by: Colt45
I thought the cops were all on digital systems now anyways. So you'd be buying something obsolete and listening to dead air.

They have digital scanners now

 

[olds]

It's legal in California. But, when the good shit goes down they switch to a tactical channel that scanners don't have.
I used to have one in my work vehicle but I had it taken out. Too much going on. Now I just have the radio we use and a CHP radio.
We do have a scanner in the office.

 

[MotF Bane]

A lot of police have switched to digital and/or encrypted, and you need to check your local laws.

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/
http://www.radardetector.net/f...anners-ham-radios-cbs/ <---most relevant sub-section

They might be able to help.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
A lot of police have switched to digital and/or encrypted, and you need to check your local laws.

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/
http://www.radardetector.net/f...anners-ham-radios-cbs/ <---most relevant sub-section

They might be able to help.

Yep, I read that most police are using encrypted communications. So, it is really a moot point as to whether or not scanners are legal.

 

[Pegun]

In a number of places they have decided not to switch to digital beacuse of the regulations and hoops they have to jump through to get their own digital spectrum. Around here, analog still works fine (Buffalo/Angola, NY or South East CT)

 

[Porter21]

Here in KY, they still use analog I believe. I was able to hook my scanner (it is probably 10 years old) to my car through aux and play it through my car stereo. At night, especially on the weekends you can hear cops all over the place. It is pretty fun to check out different spots that are getting robbed. I have been behind a speeding car on the highway and all of a sudden I heard the cop point him out. Next think I knew he was pulled over. Pretty fun.

Also, I just saw not long ago that there is an actual Iphone app that can pick up police/fire departments.

 

[jemcam]

I don't think so, it may be illegal to have in your car, but it's certainly not illegal to own one. I had an old radio shack scanner years ago and I haven't used it forever.

But.... iTunes has the "Emergency Radio" app that lets you listen to just about any city you want to for .99 cents. I enjoy it.

 

[James Bond]

Yep, I use the Emergency Radio app on my iPhone. Cost me a buck and I can listen to the police, emt, fire dept in all major cities (and tons of small ones).

 

[BoomerD]

IIRC, some states have laws prohibiting police scanners by the general public. Check your local laws...or (gawd forbid) Google it.

 

[Unheard]

Most states you can have one in your car, home, boat, helicopter, starship, etc.

As for a "tactical channel" BS. If they are on the airwaves you can pick them up.

If you are in a larger city, you will need at minimum a trunking scanner. Most larger cities have also gone digital (APCO). An older model digital trunking scanner you can pick up is the Radio Shack PRO-96 (handheld) or the PRO-2096 (mobile). They are the same model, just in different cases. They do trunking, analog, and digital systems. If you just want a trunking scanner (non-digi) the PRO-97 series fit the bill.

If you have anymore questions let me know. I've been into the communications hobby for years.

Edit for some more info:

As far as the non-trunked system, they are still very prevalent. My local city is still on analog single frequency setup. The city next to us is trunked, and Nashville is digitally trunked.

 

[Modelworks]

Most states have switched to digital but also still broadcast on analog as a fallback option should the digital broadcast fail. With something like emergencies you really want the signal to get to the other end intact. The problem with digital is that it is all or nothing, miss part of the stream and you could lose a good chunk of the message. With analog you still can hear it by turning up the volume. Lower frequencies can be used with analog too making the signal go that much further.

 

[SandEagle]

Originally posted by: Unheard
Most states you can have one in your car, home, boat, helicopter, starship, etc.

As for a "tactical channel" BS. If they are on the airwaves you can pick them up.

If you are in a larger city, you will need at minimum a trunking scanner. Most larger cities have also gone digital (APCO). An older model digital trunking scanner you can pick up is the Radio Shack PRO-96 (handheld) or the PRO-2096 (mobile). They are the same model, just in different cases. They do trunking, analog, and digital systems. If you just want a trunking scanner (non-digi) the PRO-97 series fit the bill.

If you have anymore questions let me know. I've been into the communications hobby for years.

Edit for some more info:

As far as the non-trunked system, they are still very prevalent. My local city is still on analog single frequency setup. The city next to us is trunked, and Nashville is digitally trunked.

thanks all. Unheard, just put a CB in my truck w/ a wilson 1000.. i'm sure you'll be hearing from me.. . :thumbsup:

 

[Unheard]

Originally posted by: SandEagle

Originally posted by: Unheard
Most states you can have one in your car, home, boat, helicopter, starship, etc.

As for a "tactical channel" BS. If they are on the airwaves you can pick them up.

If you are in a larger city, you will need at minimum a trunking scanner. Most larger cities have also gone digital (APCO). An older model digital trunking scanner you can pick up is the Radio Shack PRO-96 (handheld) or the PRO-2096 (mobile). They are the same model, just in different cases. They do trunking, analog, and digital systems. If you just want a trunking scanner (non-digi) the PRO-97 series fit the bill.

If you have anymore questions let me know. I've been into the communications hobby for years.

Edit for some more info:

As far as the non-trunked system, they are still very prevalent. My local city is still on analog single frequency setup. The city next to us is trunked, and Nashville is digitally trunked.

thanks all. Unheard, just put a CB in my truck w/ a wilson 1000.. i'm sure you'll be hearing from me.. . :thumbsup:

I'll be happy to help. Now we just need to get you into amateur radio, and toss that CB stuff .

KJ4CTS