Does anyone else have a police scanner?

[anti-everything]

And are you as obssessed with it as I am? It's crazy, I can't seem to stop listening to it.

[pokerfan]

1. Yep, a couple of them

Not that obsessed anymore but I play with them every now and then when there's nothing on tv.

Say what you want about RS, they made some very well regarded scanners.

[anti-everything]

2. I have a handheld

similar to the handheld you posted. There's never anything on tv here, and I listen at work. So I listen quite a bit.

[texanwitch]

3. I have one.

I like listen from time to time.

[Heidi]

4. No way.

I lived night and day with a police scanner by my side when I was a journalist in the US. If I ever again hear the screech and squawk of one of those things, it'l be too soon. x(

[anti-everything]

6. I can understand not wanting to listen

if it was your job, just as I refuse to answer the phone because I used to work in a call center. I still love to listen to my scanner though.

[Heidi]

8. Exactly.

:hi:

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

5. Yep

Baby Moniter Receiver broke, now pull out the handheld scanner.

[pokerfan]

7. LOL

Back before everything went digital I would sometimes to listen to 49 Mhz (the original Cm and cordless telephone freqs). When I lived in an apartment building I heard some woman order up some coke from her local connection. I thought to myself, "huh, I wonder who that is?" Then she promptly orders a pizza and I now had her name, phone number, address and apartment number.

I thought about calling her up and asking her what time the party starts.

Another time, I was monitoring the cellular freqs in our lab at work. It was about five and we heard a guy call his wife and tell her that he has to work late at the office. We pick him up a couple of minutes later making plans with his mistress and being oh so lovey-dovey.

Asshole.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

9. I was going to say it

but I've done the telephone freq before, I had a friend who was obsessed with it after he found I had one and what you could do with it. I didn't know he took it out of my house once, I pull up to an apartment of another friend and were waiting a few minutes for him to come out. First friend pulls the handheld out turns it on, I'm like what the hell you take my scanner out of the house. He's like I want to hear whats going on when were driving around. i'm pissed cause it's against the law in Indiana to have a scanner in your car, so us sitting in a apartment complex with one on and a cop drives by wouldn't look good. I say just till our other friend comes out, so we listen for a few minutes and find like 3 different people in this complex calling one of those dateline services with the record message, then you leave a message.

[mrbill]

10. been a scanner addict for years.........

In a small town in a small county it's a lot better source of news than the local newspaper.

Tonight's scanner action was the traffic leaving Germanfest. This is the big DWI night of the year for the local DPS, deputies and police. Forty or so people went to our shiney new jail and lots of cars were towed and a good time was had by all.

The scanner is on at mrbill manor most waking hours. It stays in the background in another consciousness until certain key words or tones are heard. It helps to know all the codes and individual officer's call signs and various streets, county roads and locations.

Without a scanner I wouldn't have a clue what is really going on in this county. Did I mention that the local paper is worthless.

A great story from last week, a motorist calls in on a cell phone. Guy in maroon Ford pickup hits guardrail on Interstate and truck is not going anywhere by itself. DPS is dispatched to the scene, but are about ten minutes away. Sounds like a regular dumb-ass accident at the time, the cops are in no hurry. Then another call comes in from another motorist that the driver of the wrecked pickup was seen "running across the median and hiding something in the tall grass then returning to his pickup". Another DPS officer heard the traffic and decided to cruise down to the scene and check out the tall grass. Oops, more work for the lawyers, a white powdery substance. Pesky cell phones.

I also highly endorse Radio Shack scanners.

[poiuytsister]

11. It's like eating peanuts! Can't stop

My sons game me one for a birthday present several years ago (requested)and I leave it on all day. I finally had to start turning it off at night or I never got any sleep.

[lost-in-nj]

12. I do

use to listen to it all the time now I turn it on when I am sitting in my kitchen
doing bills or paperwork.
My son is a fireman and works as a paramedic so I listen when he goes out on calls


lost

[militaryspouse]

13. ..

can't you hear neighbors phone conversations on them tho. We used to have a hand held one where ppl's phone convos would cut in. Make me want to talk on a cell realizing how many have scanners lol.

[Blue Diadem]

14. Ours is on 24/7

We don't have it in the sleeping area though, so at night, we only rush to listen to it if we are awakened by sirens. The rest of the time, we just listen for the tone for our area. Being rural is a lot different that big cities, the calls here are much less. Sometimes there is no traffic at all for hours on end. I couldn't stand having one on when we lived in the city, it was constant traffic.