Cops and people with scanners on the street in NYC

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Are the cops really going to take your scanner if you have it out? Is it best to keep it hidden? I have been to florida and the cops don't really notice you with a scanner if your just holding it... Any thoughts?
 

kma371

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Ok to carry it. Just try not to being unnecessary attention to your self
 

Ishmole

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I was a cop for 37 years in a town just north of NYC. If I saw you walking down the street with a scanner listening to police calls I would probably stop you, ask you what kind of scanner you had and if you were happy with it.
 

radioman2001

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Considering that NYC is the worlds most terror targeted city in the world, I would just keep it to myself out of view. Headphones are so common you wouldn't even be noticed. An Officer may not approach you about it, but if a citizen makes a complaint or points you out (paranoid millenial citizens) you can be sure to receive attention. NYC does have a local law prohibiting the carrying of a scanner not just in your car but on your person in public. I have very seldom seen or heard of any enforcement of it, but it is there.

As Ishmole stated some would be interested in your opinion, but most would like to know what you are doing, and could you withstand an hour of questioning or even being frisked over your scanner.

Personal opinion: Since I left working EMS down there about 20 years ago, I try to avoid any travel down there. Not because of any specific threat but the atmosphere is more like a military occupation (former Military Police). Plus since the last time I was down there was the bombing downtown and I was about 20 blocks from it having dinner with friends. So I try and avoid going down there except for work.
 

Priority-One

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I have had my scanner confiscated and i was ticketed. That was 2011 in Brooklyn. I went to court and had the ticket thrown out and told by a judge that either way i wasn't getting it back because being parked on 1 channel or scanning basically out loud is illegal.
I don't fight with the NYPD because it's not worth a legal battle and one you are not going to win here.
I grew up here and have lived between Washington Heights and the Bronx and have seen 2-3 times people having their equipment taken and they are ticketed.

The court and NYPD will say it's not legal even if the FCC says it is, But i don't blame them, I am over 30 and have been scanning since i was 10 here in NYC and have heard some very serious things such as 9/11, Chelsea bombings, jumpers, police involved shootings and officers down fatally.
In a way i don't blame them for not allowing it, But in a way i don't understand how they can take something that doesn't require a permit to LISTEN to.
 
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DaveNF2G

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It has been illegal to have a mobile or portable police receiver in NYC since long before 9/11/01.

See Jose Lambiet, Safir Warns Civilian Patrols, DAILY NEWS, May 21, 1996, at 7 (New York
City’s Police Commissioner publicly warned civilian neighborhood patrol volunteers that using
mobile police receivers was illegal for them).
 

iMONITOR

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I never understood why people would be willing to live in a state that puts such restrictions on them.
 

dmack550

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Indiana does it too... I had my scanner in a vehicle confiscated and I was ticketed several years ago. Basically the officer was just being an a## because I was pulled over on the side of the road (safely) adjusting some groceries that were sliding around all over the place. He felt like he needed a reason to get out of his car... Along with three other officers... Smh.
 

Archie

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Walking around with a scanner

I would probably calls the cops if I saw somebody walking around my area who looked shady and had a scanner with them....is I true that 25 or so folks have mobile scanning permits in NY State??? How does a person qualify for this??? Does DMV issue the permits for it???
 

radioman2001

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DMV doesn't give the permits, the local police agency does, and they are very hard to come by and are required for each and every frequency you want to receive. I got one years ago from Bedford PD as I was their radio tech, but no other department that I worked on would give me one. We had an incident some years back where one of our techs put NY State Police in his Agency radio and had it confiscated. The Commandant advised us that just because you repair the MTA PD radios you have no business listening to NYSP.

I guess he and the NYSP were still upset that NYSWIN didn't work as it was encrypted, and on top of that we ended up taking over the NYSP 800 channels as they were about to lose them for non-construction.
 

Archie

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radioman2001

Many thanks for your informative reply and did you get my email last week? If not ok to pm you???
 
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DaveNF2G

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DMV doesn't give the permits, the local police agency does, and they are very hard to come by and are required for each and every frequency you want to receive.

Not entirely correct, but police officers are not always conversant with the laws they are assigned to enforce.

First, police agencies might give out the permits, but the local governing body of the municipality must authorize and empower whoever will be doing it. Few if any places in New York state have local legislation providing for such authority.

Also, one does not need a permit for every frequency.

See 1975 Op.Atty.Gen.(Inf.) 311 (in addition to excluding sheriff’s departments from the legal definition of police department, this opinion states that the issuer of a permit to equip a motor vehicle with a police band receiver may not restrict the permit to any specific radio frequency, but they may require the applicant to show a reasonable necessity for the mobile receiver).
 

KK4JUG

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I never understood why people would be willing to live in a state that puts such restrictions on them.

I think it's because some restrictions are uncomfortable but tolerated. Airline screening and public building screening are two examples. Since 9/11, when the public emerged from their numbness and disbelief, the new restrictions were "understandable" based on the premise of "that's not gonna happen again." Well, it hasn't but that is not to say we haven't had other problems.

The bottom line is, stuff happens and every time it does, we react. How far it's gonna go is anyone's guess but more "stuff" is certain to happen and there will be subsequent reactions. No one can predict the next "stuff" because the deviant mind is boundless.
 

jpm

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When I go on vacation I always take my portable scanner with me laws or no laws. Why would one advertise that they have a scanner? I always keep the scanner in my cargo pants shorts or long pants and never had a problem with officer friendly harassing me what I want to do. I always get my way in general. Lets see Florida, Kentucky, both north and south Carolina, Pittsburgh, San Francisco to name a few visiting states. Happy scanning and just do it when your on vacation.
 
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