Were you aware that anybody can listen in on a police scanner frequency? Surprisingly, there are many of these channels that are not protected by any type of special codes or encryption.
Every day, tons of people from across the nation listen in on police frequencies for plenty of reasons including, flight plans, the current weather situations and traffic reports during rush hour. And during emergencies, police scanners are critical for those people who have loved ones laying their lives on the line.
And even though most people already knew about police scanners, they popularity of them skyrocketed when the nation’s attention was focused on the Boston Marathon manhunt. For those of you who tuned in during that time, you were able to witness firsthand just how powerful real time information can be.
Now before you start listening in or download the apps that broadcasts police scanners online, remember that they should be used responsibly. In the state of Georgia, owning a police scanner, even mobile ones, car completely legal. But there are plenty of other states that require anyone who wants to use police scanners to have a FFC permit. A lot of states also prohibit the use of police scanners in vehicles, mainly because it alerts people who are driving about the locations of police cars.
So, having said that, if you want to start listening to police frequencies, there’s no better website to start then Broadcastify. It’s not an actual radio streaming site, but what it does is it features a collection of feeds from multiple sources including the Coast Guard’s channel (which is usually very quiet) and your typical neighborhood police scanner. One of the best things about Broadcastify is that it requires no downloads at all. But in order to have the best listening experience, that requires that all listeners have updated software. It’s also extremely easy to use, very easy to navigate with its simple interface and all of their features is absolutely free! The only downside is that during very busy hours, the site becomes very slow, but it rarely happens.
2 other sites that you may want to check out is ScannerMaster.com and RadioReference.com. Scanner Masters provides a list of all the exact frequencies of only local scanners, so typically this site us mostly used by hobbyists with access to the physical scanner. But Radio Reference, is another streaming site. it’s just like Scanner Master, but it has plenty of more features. It’s perfect for those who wants to take listening in on police frequencies a step further.
Now if these sites are not to your liking, you may be interested in sites that provide radio streaming such as Tuneine.com. This site is mostly used for music streaming, but due to the nature of how police frequencies work, it also picks up feeds not only in Atlanta, GA, but from all across the world! It’s also great for those of you with slow internet connections.
There are also applications for your mobile devices such as like Police Scanner Radio Scanner for Android and 5-0 Police Scanner for Apple. And fortunately, most of these apps are free. All you need to do is download and start listening. Most of the apps have both US and International feeds. All, be sure to remember that you may not be able to listen to some feeds due to weather conditions, solar flares, etc.. And alot of times, the channel may be quiet, but that doesn’t mean anything is wrong, it just means that there’s no communication going on. So enjoy listening to frequencies and use them responsibly!