LA County Scanner Law and frequencies

[PJaxx]

The LA County law that prohibits scanners in vehicles without a permit includes "any radio receiver or other device capable of receiving messages or communications transmitted on any radio transmission station operating on a frequency between 1600 kilocycles and 2500 kilocycles, or on a frequency between 30 megacycles and 40 megacycles, or between 150 megacycles and 160 megacycles."

Is there any police or fire department that still uses 1600 to 2500 kcs? Even 30 to 40 mhz is gradually disappearing in California. Thank you.

 

[P-3_Radio_Guy]

That they still use the term kilocycles and megacycles show that this hasn't been updated for a long long time. The tem used now is kilo Hertz and Mega Hertz. Does anyone know when the change in terminology took place? I believe it was in the late 60's.

Ed T

 

[brandon]

With that law, most citizens would be breaking it since the AM band goes up to 1700 KHz or so At least listening to LAPD and LASD would be legal since it's not listed. Har har

 

[OffRoadjunkie]

The LA County law that prohibits scanners in vehicles without a permit QUOTE]


I believe that is LA City not LA County, if I read this correctly...

http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtlaws_oct03.html


-Robert

 

[KMA367]

The LA County law that prohibits scanners in vehicles without a permit QUOTE]I believe that is LA City not LA County -Robert

Both the City of L.A. and the County of L.A. have similar, but not identical, ordinances, that are virtually never enforced:

LA City Municipal Code §52.44 - may be slow loading (scroll down to 52.44 if you have to)
and
Los Angeles County Code §13.10.010
.

 

[KMA367]

Is there any police or fire department that still uses 1600 to 2500 kcs?

Not for two-way communications, that I'm aware of. There are about 40 "PW" licenses/sites in that band in Los Angeles County, though, and about 173 throughout California. Most appear to be Travelers' Information Service stations, though there are a few interesting ones, like Burbank Fire Department's WPIH303 but it has the same emission and power levels as most of the others.

When these ordinances were put on the books, PDs within the county that had radios were all on either Medium Wave or what we now call VHF-Low: LAPD on 1730 kcs base with mobiles on five freqs in the 35, 37, & 39 mhz area; Pasadena on 1714 with 33.22m; LASO had mobiles and a 1000-watt transmitter at Dwiggins & Stringer on 31.90; Beverly Hills was on 37.10, Culver City on 37.50, Glendale 33.94, Long Beach 33.10 & 31.78m, Monrovia and Santa Monica 33.50, Montebello 37.90, San Gabriel 31.50, and CHP used 1682 kcs base with 39.78 mobiles statewide.

That they still use the term kilocycles and megacycles show that this hasn't been updated for a long long time.

Yep. From the text, it looks like that part of the County ordinance was last revised in 1950. And that's probably when they added the 150-160 frequencies, which didn't come into use for public safety until after WWII.

 

[1979lee]

well with these useless laws i guess we are all going either to hell or jail!

 

[KMA367]

Earliest "scanner" laws

Both the City of L.A. and the County of L.A. have similar, but not identical, ordinances, that are virtually never enforced (links in previous post up-thread).

The County ordinance, as far as I can tell, was first enacted in 1944, and slightly amended a few times since then.

The City Ordinance was passed by the Council on Sept 11, 1931 just four months after LAPD started using radios, and was signed into law by Mayor John C. Porter. This was it, in full:

"SEC 52.44. SHORT WAVE RADIOS, PERMIT REQUIRED

"No person shall equip or operate any motor vehicle with a short wave
without a permit, as provided in this Article, unless such motor vehicle is
used by a peace officer, or is used by the State or County Government, or
for experimental purposes."

The big problem they were having was ambulance-chasing tow trucks and attorneys, as well as many citizens apparently fascinated by the new "program" and flocking to calls they heard over their radios. After all, radio was still a novelty and there weren't yet many decent shows on the air. According to newspapers at the time, a number of people were arrested for either 52.44 or for interfering before the word got out to "stay home and listen."

I don't know that this law was ever passed, but my very favorite story was from Pasadena in 1932. Officers were dispatched one night to a residential burglary in progress at 811 S Euclid, and arrived to find two carloads of "merrymakers" in front of the house, yelling and carrying on. They told the officers that they had already scared off the "strange man" for them.

Police and politicians were irate, as it apparently wasn't the first such incident, so the city council considered a new ordinance "forbidding residents who 'pick up' police calls from dashing to the scene until the officers have been given a five-minute head start." No sign that it was ever passed.

These were all predated by Michigan's long-lived and apparently frequently enforced 1929 mobile short-wave receiver law which, until 2006, required a permit to have a police receiver in your car.