Police Scanner Purchase Advice

panjumbie · 06-20-2025, 10:11 PM

It became illegal to sell scanners that could pick up the analog cell phone frequencies to stop people from listening. But, of course people listened in to party lines since the invention of the telephone.

Now all cell phones are digital, and have been for many years.

Unfortunately, you will probably find that your police radios, if not already encrypted, soon will be. A controversial issue in some places.

chachee52 · 06-21-2025, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by panjumbie

Unfortunately, you will probably find that your police radios, if not already encrypted, soon will be. A controversial issue in some places.

The only town that I know of that is fully encrypted is Hudson NH PD. The issue with this is that surrounding towns can't help them as fast as they used to because they can't hear them. I know a few officers in Hudson and connecting towns, and that is their complaint, it takes longer for mutual aid from the PDs.
The other places that I know that encrypt, are able to shut it on/off, or they only have 1 specialized channel to switch to that is encrypted. The issue with switching over is money, just like everyone switching over to digital frequencies, it's all about money.
Just my opinion, we shall see what happens.

06-20-2025, 10:11 PM	#1
panjumbie Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Hempstead New York Posts: 32 Thanks: 7 Thanked 25 Times in 10 Posts	It became illegal to sell scanners that could pick up the analog cell phone frequencies to stop people from listening. But, of course people listened in to party lines since the invention of the telephone. Now all cell phones are digital, and have been for many years. Unfortunately, you will probably find that your police radios, if not already encrypted, soon will be. A controversial issue in some places.