police scanner?

Im looking for an affordable digital police scanner, under 300, any

recomendations? thanks in advance

-Fawn Grant

(new member excuse my lack of introduction before asking for something*)

/me loves teh google.<BR><BR>http://www.police-scanner.info/police-scanner-websites.htm

Check on local laws before ordering- they vary.

You're on the wrong forum...this one is for photography. Try an electronics\amateur radio\scanner forum for better success. Also try Ebay, they frequently have some good offerings.

You should just save up and get yourself an Imacon 949.

 

ha ha.

Get a good lawyer too, for when the cops get pissed of with you hanging around taking pics when they are trying to do their job, and arrest you for one of several options they have for dealing with siren chasers.

Fawn:

 

Erin is at least partly right. I photograph law enforcement, prisons etc full time and the best way to do this is to contact the cops and ask permission to go on a ride-along with them. Repeat a bunch of times and soon they'll know you; you'll know them and everything will be a lot easier.

 

Hope that helps.

Fawn-- Some advice from someone who shot local spot news for quite a bit:

 

1. Especially in the urban areas, the police and fire services are moving to the new trunked digital frequencies. If you live around a significant city, there's a good chance the local systems will change soon if they already haven't. Get the best trunked scanner you can find so it can track the greatest number of different types of trunked systems. There are several different ones, and not every trunked scanner can track all trunked systems. Check with a local radio store (sometimes the people at Radio Shack actually know what they're talking about on this subject).

 

2. I found the police frequencies to be secondary to the main fireboard dispatch frequency in terms of alerting me to problems. If the problem was important enough for me to chase, it probably had both the police and fire board alerted. Listening to the police freqs will drive you nuts with routine matters so much that your ears will tend to tune it out and you won't hear when a really important call comes in. The only way the police freqs were useful to me is after I had already gotten the basic info about a call and there might be specifics of a location that the police would be talking about.

 

3. Get a press pass. In most areas, posession of a press pass is a de facto license to have a scanner in your vehicle, but your local laws may vary, so check them out. No matter what the law is, a cop who is ignorant of the law (and there are lots of those) can arrest you and make you life hell and still be wrong while costing you a lot of money.

 

4. If you live anywhere between Boston and DC, an outfit called Breaking News Network probably has your area covered, and they are moving into some other areas across the country. They have whole hords of scanner buffs who call into their network and then the headquarters puts the breaking incidents out on their pager systems. Coverage of events is sometimes spotty and often a little late, but it's less than ten bucks a month and a lot of fun. Their phone number is 1-888-875-6100 and they have a website as well.

 

Realize that outlets for breaking local news have been dwindling lately, as local papers move to a more feature-oriented format. I used to sometimes make over $1000 a month just running on stuff in my spare time (I made a lot more when I did it full time) back in the late 1990's up to about 2003, but the market in the DC suburbs died for that very quickly. Haven't sold any breaking news for 18 months, quit investing much time in it a year ago. If there are 'copters flying around, I'll turn on the scanners and see what was happening, but unless it is really big news running on such stuff is a waste of time.

 

And to the person who inferred that the cops should arrest any photographers on an incident scene for getting in the way, SHAME ON YOU! The Constitution of the United States mentions freedom of the press as a primary right, for a darned good reason. As long as the photographer stays behind the yellow tape (if there is any) and is not in the way or in danger, there should be no problem. I've had cops assault me when I was not only behind the tape, but behind civilians who had been standing there for several minutes! They will call press photographers vultures, but then members of the rescue squad will take pictures of accident scenes from vantage points where I and other photographers were prohibited, and then GIVE them to the local papers!

 

It's probably time I started up that "nasty cop story" thread I've been threatening to initiate. To be continued... -BC-

Ditto everything Bill said. I'm a former PJ, sometimes working only as a reporter writing stories, sometimes photos only, often doing both.

 

I'm not going to take a position on what's legal or ethical. I'll just offer suggestions that are practical for getting the job done.

 

A scanner is helpful but, as Bill said, not as helpful as it used to be. For years I relied on the excellent Radio Shack Pro-2006 tabletop and Pro-43 handheld. Both could be modified to pick up cell phones and other freqs, which was occasionally helpful when the ratio of cops:civilians using cell phones wasn't so bad. Once upon a time it was possible to routinely catch stupid drug dealers talking openly on cell phones, which could help with establishing the background for stories. Now there's so much idle chit chat between ordinary folks on cell phones that you can go daffy from listening for anything potentially news related.

 

When the city departments switched to trunked systems I finally sold my scanners. I suppose they'd still be useful in rural areas, tho', but I'm no longer in the biz.

 

Icom scanners are fairly pricey but are arguably the best available. Some are computer programmable. It's been a while since I looked but you might also be able to find a device that works with a computer using software based point-and-click interface. Such a system may offer the potential for modifications that enable more efficient scanning.

 

Keep in mind that due to increasingly draconian laws you must be careful about how you use the information you hear over a scanner. In many cases such information can be used only to ask indirect questions that will get you independent confirmation that can be attributed to a source other than what you heard on the scanner.

 

Finally, while I said earlier that I wouldn't comment on legalities or ethics, I will say this: Reporting on the events that affect our communities and the authorities we entrust to protect us is NOT a privelege. And it is far, far more than a right. It is an obligation.

 

Don't let anyone try to persuade you that photographing a crime, accident or fire scene is mere exploitation. If the authorities are allowed to place restrictions on journalists covering any events that affect the community it becomes possible for the authorities to completely fabricate or hide facts. This can lead to distortion of the criminal justice system, how taxes are justified for funding police, fire and rescue services, and inevitably the entire system of government suffers when they believe they are no longer accountable to the people because they are able to operate without being observed or recorded.

 

I'm assuming that you're an American, altho' in my opinion it doesn't matter. Every American has First Amendment rights but few Americans are willing to accept the obligation to protect that right by observing the *entire* First Amendment. They lack either the knowledge or courage - or both - when it comes to observing their responsibility to *be* a part of a free press. Don't let anyone discourage you from doing what is necessary to protect this right. The founders of this nation did not carve out these rights by slavishly obeying the then-current laws. They risked imprisonment and death for a greater purpose.

Lex:

 

I agree in principle on your words about the first amendment and all that.

 

But, and I think this is important, a good dose of reality check should be applied to all situations where this might become relevant. Is it crucial that we have a free press with free access? Absolutely. Does that mean free access to everything, everywhere all the time? Not really, and sadly those that prioritize and decide what's ok as far as free access goes doesn't always have the best of the general public at heart.

 

Sure, pj's photographers and reporters should have access to accident scenes and crime scenes. But those that gain access must follow some simple rules (such as think about where you step, stand out of the way of rescue personell etc) and it is often because such rules are disregarded that there is great antipathy against members of the media. I have found that always being polite and nice often does wonders.

 

I've lived and worked in a lot of countries in four continents and seldom have I seen so much "black or white and nothing inbetween" thinking as I have during my 8 some years so far in the US. With rights come not only obligations but also responsibilities.

 

I'm not saying that we as press photographers should blindly obey, stop shooting or otherwise bow down to authority simply because authority tells us to. I'm simply saying that before we refuse to do what we're told, stop for a second and find out why we're being told to do something. Is an officer asking us to step back a few steps because they've discovered a smoldering back seat that might trigger a n explosion at an accident scene? Or, is the officer asking us to step back because his aunt is involved in the accident and badly injured? Or, is he asking us to step back because his superiors ordered him to? Ask the question, politely, find out and act accordingly.

 

For anyone who is going to cover police/fire/rescue for a while, I say take the time and make the effort of trying to get to know at least some of the officers. Once they know you it'll be a lot easier for them to understand that you too are just doing your job.

I have pretty hefty a.d.d. and forgot all about this forum.

however, upon finding it again, Id like to clarify that I am *not* a siren chaser, but rather needed a scanner for my work as a photojournalist.

Thanks to those who contributed useful information!

Isnt the internet great? .. looking for a scanner and all roads bring me back to photo.net .. now I'm curious as to what scanner to marry in my kit bag with the D200