Police Scanners: Are they legal?

R a Z o R · Mar 21, 2009

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http://www.police-scanner.info/scanning/police-scanner-laws.htm

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Does anyone have a police scanner for private use ?

Anyone know how to hook-up to the internet ?

FogRider · Mar 21, 2009

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Never mind. I don't know if the question was changed or I managed to read it wrong, I could have sworn you were asking a different question.

DreQo · Mar 21, 2009

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FogRider wrote:

What in the world is the purpose of this post? You post a link completely unrelated to OC, then ask a question that is answered in the link you posted, then you ask another question unrelated to the first, not to mention unrelated to OC. Oh, and don't forget the pic that is mostly related to one of the questions, but adds nothing.

Yeah, he's pretty much turned into a random-spam-bot. Not to mention I can't S T A N D the way he writes his thread titles.

Take this as a friendly reminder, Razor. If you keep making off topic posts and using obnoxious text formatting, you wont have much fun here. Please take a close second look at the forum rules.

R a Z o R · Mar 21, 2009

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FogRider wrote:

What in the world is the purpose of this post? You post a link completely unrelated to OC, then ask a question that is answered in the link you posted, then you ask another question unrelated to the first, not to mention unrelated to OC. Oh, and don't forget the pic that is mostly related to one of the questions, but adds nothing.

... Fog Rider ...

1.] Please read the front page : OpenCarry.org>HotTopics>

issues that are hot at the moment > cover police harassment of open

carry [ page 2 ] .

2.] This post is # 1 on that page now .

3.] The purpose of this post is to moniter & record possible harassment

of anyone that choices to legally OC .

4.] It is easy to tear down however can you add something helpful ?

5.] Do you like hall moniters ?

6.] The pic adds interest and shows more info is available .

7.] Have you tried using the internet to listen to police broadcast in your

area ?

8.] I wonder what the police call numbers are for a person OCing ?

9.] Is it legal to record such broadcasts ?

R a Z o R · Mar 21, 2009

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I found my area's police scanner prodcast on the internet

by Googling :

internet police scanner list .

grumpycoconut · Mar 21, 2009

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scanners are generally legal. Many departments are now on frequencies you can't hear and using encryption you can't break. The interweb has nothing do do with police radio. Cops are more likely to say bad things on their cells than on the radio. Police radio is boring to listen to 99.9% of the time. If you can hear it you can probably record it.

Questions answered. Now knock off the stupid formatting. It does nothing but make your junk harder to read.

ralphb72 · Mar 21, 2009

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Yes, I have two, an older base scanner and a newer hand held scanner.

In Indiana you can own and use a scanner or radio capable of receiving police frequencies in your home no problem, but if you take it with you or in your vehicle you better have permission from the police, or an amateur radio (ham) license, or a few other exceptions.

http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title35/ar44/ch3.html

Around here they call a gun a 10-32, but mostly they say 10-32 G (for gun) or 10-32 K (for knife), not sure what they would call one OC, Perhaps "10-32G carried openly"?

http://ttfd.whitleynet.org/Frequencies/indiana_10_codes.htm

I don't know if it is legal to record or broadcast on the internet but i know people do it. More info here: http://www.radioreference.com/

Yes, I have listened to scanners on the net, No feeds for my local area on line but lots of Indiana feeds on Scan America:
http://in.scanamerica.us/index.php

I have listened to Ham radio's on line too: http://online.remotehams.com/
my favorite is :http://ab2tc.getmyip.com:82/rcf-beta/

3.898 Mhz lsb is on right now.

I wondered If I should take my hand held scanner with me while oc'ing today but didn't want to give anyone any ammunition to use against me should I get stopped or questioned.

R a Z o R · Mar 21, 2009

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ralphb72 wrote:

Yes, I have two, an older base scanner and a newer hand held scanner.

In Indiana you can own and use a scanner or radio capable of receiving police frequencies in your home no problem, but if you take it with you or in your vehicle you better have permission from the police, or an amateur radio (ham) license, or a few other exceptions.

http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title35/ar44/ch3.html

Around here they call a gun a 10-32, but mostly they say 10-32 G (for gun) or 10-32 K (for knife), not sure what they would call one OC, Perhaps "10-32G carried openly"?

http://ttfd.whitleynet.org/Frequencies/indiana_10_codes.htm

I don't know if it is legal to record or broadcast on the internet but i know people do it. More info here: http://www.radioreference.com/

Yes, I have listened to scanners on the net, No feeds for my local area on line but lots of Indiana feeds on Scan America:
http://in.scanamerica.us/index.php

I have listened to Ham radio's on line too: http://online.remotehams.com/
my favorite is :http://ab2tc.getmyip.com:82/rcf-beta/

3.898 Mhz lsb is on right now.

I wondered If I should take my hand held scanner with me while oc'ing today but didn't want to give anyone any ammunition to use against me should I get stopped or questioned.

TechnoWeenie · Mar 22, 2009

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grumpycoconut wrote:

scanners are generally legal. Many departments are now on frequencies you can't hear and using encryption you can't break. The interweb has nothing do do with police radio. Cops are more likely to say bad things on their cells than on the radio. Police radio is boring to listen to 99.9% of the time. If you can hear it you can probably record it.

Questions answered. Now knock off the stupid formatting. It does nothing but make your junk harder to read.

Don't be so sure, just because it's digital doesn't mean encrypted. There are no frequencies you can't listen to, very few systems run fulltime crypto.

Give me a county or city in a state and I'll give you the rundown on what system they use, and what you need to monitor it..

I had to explain to DC officers when they got their digital system, people can still listen, just costs more.

I set up those systems, you'd be surprised how easy things are.

ralphb72 · Mar 22, 2009

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True enough, neither of my scanners can do digital, just couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a scanner. Most of my local agencies are still pretty conventional coms.

celticredneck · Mar 22, 2009

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When I held an FCC 1st class license, back in the 70s, it was legal to listen to anything you were capable of receiving. The illegal part was in revealing the content. I don't know what the rule is today since I got out of the broadcast industry in 1977 and never renewed my license

david.ross · Mar 22, 2009

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ralphb72 wrote:

Yes, I have two, an older base scanner and a newer hand held scanner.

In Indiana you can own and use a scanner or radio capable of receiving police frequencies in your home no problem, but if you take it with you or in your vehicle you better have permission from the police, or an amateur radio (ham) license, or a few other exceptions.

http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title35/ar44/ch3.html

I never really understood why people want laws like the one you posted.

My callsign is K9ROO, I'm a General licensed operator.

If someone wanted to listen to the police frequencies, it is simple to buy a radio. You can even mod a unit to transmit on the frequencies, build a directional amp and antenna, and jam up the use of the repeater(s).

I do wonder if they've actually used the law for prosecution...

As you can buy multi-frequency cellphone jamming devices... Buy a few amps and antennas and you can bring wireless communication down to it's knees.

D: I'm a type of Technological Specialist, does this make me a domestic terrorist.

I'm probably already listed on Main Core just for being a HAM and have bought firearms in the past. *cue the black helicopters*

Anubis · Mar 22, 2009

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insane.kangaroo wrote:

you can buy multi-frequency cellphone jamming devices...

...if you are willing to risk $1000 fine and 1 year in federal prison when you use it.

Correction from 47 USC 501: "shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or byimprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both."

david.ross · Mar 22, 2009

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Anubis wrote:

insane.kangaroo wrote:

you can buy multi-frequency cellphone jamming devices...

Click to expand...

...if you are willing to risk $1000 fine and 1 year in federal prison when you use it.

So true. Funny thing is you can buy a tri-band jammer cheap from for about 350USD.

Are there even any legal uses for a jammer? Not sure if there are any air rights on personal property.

EDIT: actually, thinking how "involved" the FCC is in actually enforcing the rules, there is nobody who would actually be prosecuted. The FCC seems only interested in lawsuits or fines against businesses which can bring in money instead of attacking HAMs or twats trying to ruin the use of radio technology. 14.275MHz is a good example of morons on the airwaves. :/ Go canadians for enforcing their rules as well...

ralphb72 · Mar 22, 2009

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"I never really understood why people want laws like the one you posted."

That's a good one, I can't say that I "want" that law, though it did get me interested in getting my ham license.

david.ross · Mar 22, 2009

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Do you DX any?

TechnoWeenie · Mar 22, 2009

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Anubis wrote:

insane.kangaroo wrote:

you can buy multi-frequency cellphone jamming devices...

Click to expand...

...if you are willing to risk $1000 fine and 1 year in federal prison when you use it.

Try 10K and 5 years...

PER transmission/incident

ralphb72 · Mar 23, 2009

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insane.kangaroo wrote:

Do you DX any?

Me? No license yet, I do have an appt to take the test but not for about another month.

Gilly · Apr 4, 2009

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TechnoWeenie wrote:

grumpycoconut wrote:

scanners are generally legal. Many departments are now on frequencies you can't hear and using encryption you can't break. The interweb has nothing do do with police radio. Cops are more likely to say bad things on their cells than on the radio. Police radio is boring to listen to 99.9% of the time. If you can hear it you can probably record it.

Questions answered. Now knock off the stupid formatting. It does nothing but make your junk harder to read.

Click to expand...

Don't be so sure, just because it's digital doesn't mean encrypted. There are no frequencies you can't listen to, very few systems run fulltime crypto.

Give me a county or city in a state and I'll give you the rundown on what system they use, and what you need to monitor it..

I had to explain to DC officers when they got their digital system, people can still listen, just costs more.

I set up those systems, you'd be surprised how easy things are.

You are correct. Digital is not automatically encrypted, but there are some radio systems that are impossible to monitor without having access to the system's architecture (IE a radio programmed for use on that net.) I can't think of one off the top of my head but there is at least one unmonitorable system out there. Also, in NC use of a police scanner is perfectly legal anywhere unless you are committing a crime while using one, such as burglarizing a home while listening to a scanner to avoid the police.

Gilly · Apr 4, 2009

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Oops. Double tap.

Police Scanners: Are they legal?

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