How Do I Listen to Digital Police Radio Frequencies

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Listening to police radio can be an exciting way to keep up with the efforts of law enforcement and other first responders and learn about emergency situations developing in your area. To tune in, you'll need to either purchase a standalone scanner or download a police scanner app for your mobile device. Once you've got your radio up and running, flip through the various local and non-local channels and focus on activity taking place during busier times of day to get a live look at what's happening around you.

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   Purchase a police scanner. Police scanners come in many different forms. There are large desktop scanners, smaller handheld varieties, and models that can be installed in your vehicle and operated while you're driving. Before you shell out hundreds of dollars on the first model you see, take a moment to consider which type will work best for your intended purposes.^[1]

   • Ask yourself how you'll be using your scanner. Do you plan on doing most of your listening from the privacy of your home, or would you rather keep up with the action while you're out on the go?
   • Standalone police scanners can range in price from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Unless you're a dedicated emergency radio enthusiast, downloading a mobile app instead might be the thriftiest way to go.

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   Program your police scanner to receive channels in your area. Setting up a standard digital scanner is often as easy as punching in your zip code and waiting for the device to automatically calibrate itself. Once the scanner is operational, it will be able to pick up all emergency two-way radio frequencies within a given radius.

   • On some older models, it may be necessary to manually identify and connect to local channels through an internal database.^[2]
   • If you're not very handy with electronics, ask the retailer you buy your scanner from to help you set it up before you leave the store.

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   Tune into the channel you want to listen to. If you have a digital scanner that calibrates itself automatically, you'll be able to simply flip back and forth between the preloaded channels for your neck of the woods. For old-fashioned analogue units, you'll need to hit the "Program" button and manually input the number corresponding to be able to listen in.

   • You can pull up a list of emergency radio channels for various cities, states, and territories with a quick Internet search.
   • Resources like Radioreference.com also compile police radio channels in one convenient place.^[3]
   • In addition to law enforcement channels, you'll also be able to receive transmissions from your local fire department, EMS service, Air Traffic Control center, and even military!

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   Download a police scanner app for your mobile device. You can experience all the excitement of police radio without dropping a lot of money on special equipment by using your smartphone or tablet. There are many different police scanner apps available to casual listeners, all of which will provide access to channels in your immediate vicinity and beyond.^[4]

   • While some police scanner apps are sold for a small price (usually $3-5), many of the best ones are free. Keep in mind, however, that free scanners may include ads that occasionally interrupt broadcasts.
   • Some of the most highly-rated police scanner apps (or radio apps that police radio) on the market include Police Scanner 5-0, Scanner 911, Broadcastify, and Scanner Radio.^[5]

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   Use the app's interface to browse various local channels. Once the app is loaded, you'll be presented with several options for how to listen. Most police scanner apps organize their channels into broad categories, such as "Police, "Fire," and "EMS." Within these categories, you'll find frequencies for each of your city's major emergency response services.^[6]

   • If you have location services enabled for the app, it should detect where you are automatically. For some programs, however, you may be asked to provide your zip code or other location information, such as the name of your city or specific county.
   • Another useful feature of police scanner apps is that you can save your favorite channels to create custom feeds which you can cycle between at will.

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   Explore channels from all over the world. Since mobile scanner apps don't operate on a restricted range, you'll be able to check out feeds from other cities, states, and even countries. Just choose a location and frequency to discover what kinds of crimes, emergencies, and disasters are happening there in real time.

   • Channels are usually plainly labelled, which makes it easy to find the one you want right away. For example, the frequency for the Philadelphia Police Department will be displayed as "Philadelphia PD" or something similar.
   • Transmissions from faraway places may be less stable than those originating from areas closer to you.

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   Switch your radio on later in the day when most channels are busiest. Make it a point to switch on your police radio after you get home from work or school and see what's going on in your area. In many places, crimes tend to be committed in higher numbers in the early evening and late at night. This means the hours between about 3pm and 2am (EST) are typically the juiciest times to listen.^[7]

   • There may be a bit of a lull during the early evening—this is when most people are resting or eating dinner.

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   Keep an ear out during special events to intercept interesting calls. If there's a big concert or football game going on in your city, be sure to leave your police radio running. Police officers are dispatched in greater numbers during these events, and need to be able to communicate with one another easily from different locations. With so many people gathered in one place, you're sure to overhear something out of the ordinary.

   • As the overall number of calls increases, so will the number of mundane ones. Be prepared to intercept a lot of noise complaints, car accidents, and drunk-and-disorderlys.

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   Listen for increased excitement surrounding urgent calls. It can be easy to tune out the routine talk when there's not much going on, but pay close attention when the exchanges between the dispatcher and responding officers get louder and faster. There will often be a noticeable shift in tone when a major incident, like a mugging or vehicle pursuit, is going down.^[8]

   • If you're flipping through channels at random, be ready to stop when you hear activity pick up.
   • These days, numerical codes aren't used as much, so it's not necessary to try to memorize them. Listening for subtle changes is a more reliable way to catch the big calls.

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   Stay up-to-date on important occurrences nationwide as they unfold. With a police scanner app, you're not limited to the reports being issued in your own community. Spend some time on channels for other cities, states, or corners of the country to catch wind of the latest breaking developments in those areas before they hit the news.^[9]

   • Your police radio will allow you to stay informed about the status of the wildfires ravaging California, for instance, or to "ride along" with the first officers on scene at a hostage situation.
   • Don't forget that police scanners can pick up fire and EMS channels, as well. This makes it possible to keep tabs on a certain event even after the police have left the scene.^[10]

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• If you're using a digital scanner, be sure to upgrade your software regularly to increase the number of channels you have access to.

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• Listening in to police radio is technically legal. However, many law enforcement organizations have begun encrypting their transmissions to keep them from being public. This may make it hard to find a stable frequency or follow a call to its conclusion.

• Never attempt to observe or interfere with a police or emergency call in progress. Doing so could jeopardize your safety or that of the responding officers, and could even be considered a crime.

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Things You'll Need

• Police scanner unit
• Mobile police scanner app
• Local emergency radio channel directory

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How Do I Listen to Digital Police Radio Frequencies

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