First off, welcome to a hobby that has captivated my attention for over 30 years now. And I hope that you find this hobby as captivating, fascinating, and entertaining as I do.
So what is a police scanner and what can I do with it?
A police scanner is an electronic device (more traditionally a scanning radio communications receiver) that was traditionally available in handheld, base, and mobile form factors.
However, more recently Software Defined Radio (SDR), internet streams, and smartphone app streaming formats have blurred the lines of what can be considered a police scanner, or simply a device that is capable of intercepting communications of first responders.
The purpose of a police scanner, or similarly, scanner, radio scanner, scanner stream, scanner app, or device is primarily its capability of receiving the daily communications signals transmitted by police, fire, paramedics, civil aircraft, military aircraft, federal government, ships, recreational boats, military ships, aircraft carriers, businesses, race cars and so much more.
I think you get the point. In short, a police scanner is a device that allows you to receive a lot of the common communications activity that occurs around you via analog and digital voice and data formats, each and every day.
So why would anyone want to listen in on those types of communications and activities?
Because it is extremely interesting to be able to hear these types of communications.
I respect the job that the brave men and women in law enforcement and emergency services do, as well as those that serve our country each and every day in the various branches of the armed forces.
It is very interesting to be able to listen in on the jobs that these people do day in, and day out. And I have the deepest utmost respect for those individuals that are capable of doing these types of occupations that keep us all safe every day.
Wait, So What Kinds Of Communications Would I Hear With A Police Scanner?
Well this all depends on what types of things you like to listen to in general, or perhaps just whatever you happen to be in the mood to listen to that day.
There is really a little something for everyone.
In places where the police communications are still in the clear and are unencrypted, you could listen to routine police calls that are dispatched out to the units that respond to them.
You may ask what types of calls those are?
Well, these can be anything from routine noise complaints, to neighborly spats, up to robberies, burglaries, hit-and-run drivers, police pursuits, and all the way up to narcotics operations, vice, SWAT calls, and surveillance operations.
And those are just SOME of the activity that can be monitored.
There are also fire dispatches from small brush fires to huge wild-fires that are fought by multiple agencies, local, state, and federal forces all coming together to combat a huge blaze. And all of this requires strategic and tight coordination and communications between departments and personnel.
You can often hear fire personnel coordinating where to send equipment and personnel first, ground crews fighting actual fires, aircraft coordinating and completing slurry and water drops.
You will also hear paramedics responding to routine calls for medical aid, traffic accidents, and assisting police and fire with their day to day operations when appropriate.
If you live near a coast or waterway, there are lifeguard communications and water rescue types of activity involving emergency crews and personnel that can be monitored with a radio.
If you are lucky enough to live near a military base, there are a whole world of communications activity to listen to there on its own.
There are base police calls. If it is an airbase there are ground communications that you can listen to where military aircraft and fuel trucks cross runways and taxiways.
Then there are control tower communications, and air traffic control navigation communications.
And if all that isn’t interesting enough on its own, you can also listen to Navy, Air Force, Marine, and Coast Guard communications activities as they go about practicing maneuvers, or mock dog fights in the air, live fire testing, Strafing and bombing exercises, and range control communications.
You can also listen to all the routine aircraft communications in your area with a scanner as well. This consists of control tower communications to aircraft and vice versa, air-to-air communications, navigational and weather channels, ground control communications at airports, airline company frequencies, airport fuel trucks, TRACON communications, and
When it comes to water craft, you can listen to ships, boats, aircraft carriers, cruise ships, tankers, and coast guard communications around waterways, rivers, lakes, and oceans, you can listen to a lot of this activity via a police scanner.
I don’t think that I have to even tell you that all of this is just fascinating to listen to live as it is all going on around you each day.
And this just scratches the surface of what a scanner allows you to listen to. You can listen to much more like taxis, trains, trolleys, business communications,
What do you Mean By Encrypted And Unencrypted Communications?
Many law enforcement and emergency services agencies’ communications systems and activities are unencrypted, and remain in the clear for the public to listen to.
What this means is this.
If you wish, with a proper device such as a police scanner, or other device capable of picking up and decoding the signals you wish to monitor, and in the proper bands such as a software defined radio device, or a smart phone app, you could potentially listen to a whole host of communications activities.
What I mean by this by way of an example is this.
If I live in say San Diego, CA and I see that their police and fire communications are mostly unencrypted, then I am able to listen to their communications as I wish, as long as those communications remain in the clear and unencrypted. And this is all provided that I am not breaking the law while engaging in this hobby.
That last point is extremely important!
I urge you to please always act responsibly, and use your scanner or whichever means you plan to monitor communications activities responsibly. Please use common sense. For example, if you live near an airport and would like to listen to the aircraft coming into and departing the airport, please do not go anywhere near the runways or the control tower, do not trespass or hinder security folks or hinder anyone in any way.
In fact, sometimes folks can get a little nervous if you are running around with a radio and monitoring their activities, so it is always best to hang back and remain out of the way at all times.
You should never interfere with any first responders, emergency personnel, government personnel, or law enforcement personnel doing their job.
This should really be common sense, but please do not show up to crime scenes or emergency situations, as you are putting yourself and others in a very dangerous situation by simply being present.
This at minimum hinders the first responders ability to complete their duties effectively if they are having to run voyeurs and looky-loos out of the area.
Also, as tempting as it may be to check out what’s going on live in your neighborhood or elsewhere, please do not follow the police, fire, paramedics, or anyone else using your police scanner, and do not use it to interfere with any of their perimeters, crime scenes, or activities.
It is not legal to do so, and in fact you should make yourself aware of the local laws in your area regarding the proper use of police scanners and the correct operations and use of those and similar devices.
For instance, folks showing up to crime scenes with scanner apps on their smart phones is sometimes pointed out by top police and emergency personnel as reasons that they would like to see all public safety communications monitoring ability removed from the general public.
Now, regardless of what your view is on the issue of encrypting public safety communications, everyone should respect emergency personnel and first responders, and stay out of their way so that they can complete their duty to serve the public in their time of need.
However, more and more law enforcement agencies have decided to encrypt either a portion, or in some cases, all of their communications activities so that nobody outside of that agency, or without proper authorization can monitor those activities with a police scanner, or any other device that is not authorized and/or equipped and programmed with the correct encryption/decryption software and keys.
In these cases you would not be able to listen to any communications that are encrypted, as all that you will hear is garbled scratching and screeching sounds on the receiving end. And it is not authorized, advised, or legal to attempt to decrypt any encrypted communications systems.
If you are interested in looking up if certain types of communications activity in a specific area can be monitored, and by what means they can be monitored, I would encourage you to head over to www.radioreference.com
This website is basically the most authoritative on anything related to scanners and monitoring of common communication activities.
So, for whatever your communications monitoring needs or interests are, this is usually the best place to start your search. Not to mention there is terrific and vast number of individuals on that are extremely knowledgeable in a wide variety of areas such as radio communications technology, trunked radio systems, repeater systems, the technology that encodes and decodes the analog and voice signals, and so much more.
Further, I have been monitoring that community for as far back as I can remember because it is an authority on the subject, and contains a community of active members that are dedicated to this hobby and its derivatives such as shortwave radio, amateur radio operators and further.
What is really important about radioreference is the community that it brings together, and the ideas that are able to be shared throughout the hobby as a result of that community.
Additionally, I should mention that radio reference also attracts some of the most knowledgeable people in the field to be giving advice to hobbyists as well. There are many electrical engineers, radio techs, RF engineers, programmers, folks that work on the city, county, and state networks of communication systems, as well as dispatchers and public safety members.
Arm chair hobbyists are able to engage with the community through the sites forums and boards, and also to keep up on the latest trends in the industry, and community. I monitor the site myself rather frequently.
So How Do I Listen To The Police, Fire, Paramedics, Aircraft, Military Communications?
Here comes the fun part, listening in on all of the action!
And the other fun part about this hobby is that in many instances, you can get started listening to police, fire, paramedics and other communications in your area for free online or through the free versions of an app.
If you click here and pick your state and city, you can often start listening online to streamed police and fire calls immediately, provided that encryption has not been deployed in your area.
Some Tips on Listening To Police, Fire, and Paramedics
- As you may expect, the communications activities of police, fire, and paramedics tend to be heavier at night as crime in many areas picks up when it gets dark.
- You can monitor way more efficiently and effectively if you own your own scanner.
- The drawbacks of listening in online or with an app is the lack of control that you have over the device. If there is a big incident happening, and you want to listen in, you cannot stop the radio on a particular conversation, it just keeps scanning because the person that owns the scanner that feeds the stream, controls what is being monitored, and the up and downtimes of the stream.
- Monitor all police, fire, and paramedic channels that you can because some of the most interesting communications will be on tactical or car to car type of channels.