Is it illegal to have a police radio scanner and listen to the cops?
gnarlykid asked:
I was thinking about buying a police radio scanner so that i could hear what the police are saying in my city. But im wondering if having one is illegal or if listenting to the cops is illegal. So if i were to get pulled over and the cop saw that i had a police scanner would i get in trouble?
thanks
I was thinking about buying a police radio scanner so that i could hear what the police are saying in my city. But im wondering if having one is illegal or if listenting to the cops is illegal. So if i were to get pulled over and the cop saw that i had a police scanner would i get in trouble?
thanks
Yes it’s legal most of the time but depends on the jurisdcition.
For example in some jurisdcitions is illegal to use them in the car. In some jurisdiction you can’t buy one if you have criminal record. And using it during a crime is also illegal. Also in some jurisdcitions you can listen BUT you can’t spread out the information.
BUT even if is legal in your area, more and more police department are starting to change to encrypted digital frequencies so even if you get the scanner and their frequency you wouldn’t be able to listen. So try the scanner before handing the money and don’t trust all Internet sites; try to test the scanner in person.
And make sure to know the laws of your jurisdcition.
But for more legal detail read the articles:
Scanner:)
Legality:
The answer and links given by “Artman’ are spot-on. In a few states it’s illegal to have a scanner in your car (usually with an exception for people who have amateur “ham” radio licenses). Any virtually everywhere if you use a scanner during the commission of a crime it’s a separate offense.
For many, many years in Michigan it was a crime to listen to police calls in your car unless you had a permit from the State Police, but that law was rescinded a few years ago. From what I hear though, the cops in that state still get all nervous about scanners.
Here in California it’s no big deal at all, and the police don’t give a scanner a second look unless you’re already up to something.
I don’t know of anywhere in the U.S. that it’s illegal to listen to the police radio calls from your home. Police communications equipment, like so much other technology today, is getting more and more complex and high-tech, so you may need a fairly expensive scanner to pick them up, depending on where you live. In some areas they are using encryption (scrambling), which no scanner can receive. Why they do that for routine stuff, I have no idea.