Police on radio scanner apps: That's not a 10-4

[EmptyTimCup]

who knew such a thing existed ......

Police on radio scanner apps: That's not a 10-4


"As you look across the United States, we have 50 different states, and every state has different laws on things like obstruction of justice," said Benjamin Wright, a legal scholar in data security and forensics technology at the SANS Institute in Bethesda, Md., which teaches law enforcement and other security personnel the ins and outs of technology. (An earlier version of this post misspelled Benjamin Wright's name.)

It is legal to own a police scanner radio; on that, pretty much everyone agrees. Where things get sticky is when you take it out of your home. The problem, police and legal experts say, is that if you have it with you — in other words, if it's a mobile police scanner — then you can use it the way Matthew Hale is accused of: to aid in the commission of some other crime.

At least five states — Indiana among them, along with Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota and New York — make it illegal to use a mobile police scanner without a license from the Federal Communications Commission (i.e., a ham license) or permission from local law enforcement.

At least seven others, somewhat tautologously, make it illegal to use a mobile scanner explicitly in the commission of another crime. (They're California, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.)



'You could be at risk in any state'


The rest of the states don't clearly address the issue at all. That's because the laws were written in an era when "police scanner" meant a bulky box costing several hundred dollars that you could buy only at Radio Shack. They didn't envision a time when anyone could push a button, download an app and begin listening in immediately.

The apps don't even turn your phone into a true scanner. Instead, they receive feeds from police, fire and EMS channels all over the country, streamed over the Internet — and over your cellular network — to your device. You don't need to be in radio range, or even in the same state, for them to work.

"The technology is Buck Rogers stuff that nobody had heard of or thought of at the time the law was written," Wright told me. "This is the latest example of old laws bumping against new technologies where the application of the law is not clear."

"The outcome can often be a checkerboard, with very similar laws from one state to the next but different outcomes," he said. "In one state if you make it to a court, the court will rule it doesn't violate this law. Another court in another state will rule it does."

 

[mdff21]

Moral of the story: Don't take a scanner with you when you commit a crime.

Better yet, DON'T commit crimes period!!!

 

[glhs837]

who knew such a thing existed ......

I did, have one on my phone Last time I fired it up was right after I dropped of the girl at GMHS, noticed 3-4 cruisers heading into the parking lot at speed. Listened in long enough to hear it was a warrant service where guy ran, and happened to go past on school across the football field into the woods. Nice to know it wasnt some reason to go stand by.

 

[sanchezf]

I did, have one on my phone Last time I fired it up was right after I dropped of the girl at GMHS, noticed 3-4 cruisers heading into the parking lot at speed. Listened in long enough to hear it was a warrant service where guy ran, and happened to go past on school across the football field into the woods. Nice to know it wasnt some reason to go stand by.

What kind of phone do you have and is it an app, that gets you the scanner on your phone. I would love to have this too....

 

[desertrat]

What kind of phone do you have and is it an app, that gets you the scanner on your phone. I would love to have this too....

Any phone you can access the web with you can use SOMDs scanner.

 

[CrashTest]

Communications Act of 1934 says that anything send over airwaves belongs to the public and can be received by anyone with anything. Transmitting on the other hand, is a different story.

Moral of the story, if you don't want people listening to your signal, encrypt it.

 

[sanchezf]

Any phone you can access the web with you can use SOMDs scanner.

THANKS