Indiana Scanner Law Information
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dlbrock
Member
Leave your scanner at home when you go and let us know the outcome.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
All_Clear
Member
dlbrock said:
Haha!
I have to agree when others say the law seems to be at the discretion of the officer or judge. From most of what i have read some dont care, some will, some take them...
I really would like to see an official response from a state official.
Let us know how it goes.
All_Clear
Well I'm back. The officer was at the prosecutors office while I was at the police station, seperate towns. The desk officer said he did't even know why the officer would need it, but was happy to make a copy for him. I asked if he thought there would be a problem and he did say probably not. I am just sitting by the phone for a response. I did't divulge the city because of fear of reprocutions. I am not implying that would happen, but just in case. I will say that the town is located in south west Indiana, in a large, rectangular county, and it is one of the larger cities.
GTO_04
Member
In see where the scanner law in Michigan was amended and neither a permit nor a ham license is required now. I guess Michigan is more progressive than Indiana.
GTO_04
GTO_04
markbajek
Member
Dear n9hqw (and potential Ham Radio posterboy lol),
Here's a too long reply to your plight...and a reply to the scanner user in CA.
Best of luck fighting this (I have very personal iexperience with the MI law and I can empathize dearly)...you may wish to contact the ARRL's legal division for some assistance just in case this escalates. That Ham near Ft.Wayne a few years back needed their aid to win in court.
Please rest assured you should win in the end....but as long as this law is up to interpretation by county prosecutors your ham ticket is not foolproof...where as a reasonable and fair redraft of your statute should end this issue once and for all.......follow the lead of other states who don't restrict other than criminal use. NJ and MI needed ARRL help to change so apparently will Indiana.
Now back to the main thread. Indiana law.
It is definately illegal to have a scanner in your car, and it is illegal to also have a scanner outside of a dwelling (I.e. HH units) in the Hoosier State other than the stated excemptions listed in the law.
Do drivers have scanners in their cars? Of course they do, some from ignorance or unawareness of this law and others simply hide them during a traffic stop... because they'll take the odds.
I'd seriously doubt if any race fan at the brick yard gets popped...... maybe on the way home but....not near the track.That's a money maker ...and if word got out the local cops were arresting under this law...attendence would possibly drop. Regardless you are in violation of this statute.
Want to change this law?
Join forces across all types of radio hobbies and get active.
From Aviation enthusiasts to Weather watchers, From HAMs (who get harrassed time and time again) to NASCAR and INDY fans.. Get...onto your keyboards and for the betterment of the hobby as a whole......DON"T HIDE BEHIND your FCC tickets....instead reach out a hand of cooperation...and type till your fingers get sore.... become empassioned and help modify your law..
Instead of HAMS asking scanner users to join their hobby and change NOTHING.
Scanner users need to ask HAM radio as a body to help them eliminate this type of law regardless of how "protected" Hams may beleive they are from this type of statute...IF it exists it will be mis interpretted often enough to cause hams grief too... So Join up...and change it.
Get out front and ASK your state ARRL to join any resonable effort to modify this law instead of what many a scanner hobbyist percieve is a "holyier than thow, even elitist" type attitude of some HAMS.
Cooperate in the effort to change it instead of feeling (as some do) that those ignorant scanning voyeurs aren't worth helping ....and "I'm a protected class anyway." so who cares.?
Well from little scanner users grow mighty HAMS (maybe)...if they don't abandon the hobby beforehand. Want to broaden you ranks ....sure ask them to join but for the right reasons (like knowledge and companionship and DX expeditions and stuff like that) not to openly thwart state scanner laws.
Did Michigan permit holders back off..from changing their law? NO, they said stuff these permits !
Even though they too were a protected class....they simply had enough...and saw the law as unfair and wanted to protect UNAWARES from being ensnared in a hobbyist nightmare.
Yes HAMS can Scream FEDERAL PRE-EMPT to the top of your lungs, but also scream fairness to all radio users. Protect all, not just a select group...and all (including HAMS) will be treated fairly and eventually all scanner users will be treated simply as hobbyists NOT potential Criminals as they are today. Golfer, scanner user, photographer....hobbyists one and all.
IF you don't Change the law for the better and just let if fester ....every year, year after year, some HAM in nothern Indiana will get popped, next time Evansville, then Richmond and it goes on and on and on (like this reply). Sure he'll EVENTUALLY get off...but it'll inconvienience him, his family and continue to divide the hobby, anger law enforcers (who think no one should have a scanner in a car) and cost him some money in the process..
Thanks for your time and thanks to those in Indiana who helped change the law in MI.....Who'd have thought that would ever happen?, but it finally did..
Mark Bajek
Westland, MI
Here's a too long reply to your plight...and a reply to the scanner user in CA.
Best of luck fighting this (I have very personal iexperience with the MI law and I can empathize dearly)...you may wish to contact the ARRL's legal division for some assistance just in case this escalates. That Ham near Ft.Wayne a few years back needed their aid to win in court.
Please rest assured you should win in the end....but as long as this law is up to interpretation by county prosecutors your ham ticket is not foolproof...where as a reasonable and fair redraft of your statute should end this issue once and for all.......follow the lead of other states who don't restrict other than criminal use. NJ and MI needed ARRL help to change so apparently will Indiana.
Now back to the main thread. Indiana law.
It is definately illegal to have a scanner in your car, and it is illegal to also have a scanner outside of a dwelling (I.e. HH units) in the Hoosier State other than the stated excemptions listed in the law.
Do drivers have scanners in their cars? Of course they do, some from ignorance or unawareness of this law and others simply hide them during a traffic stop... because they'll take the odds.
I'd seriously doubt if any race fan at the brick yard gets popped...... maybe on the way home but....not near the track.That's a money maker ...and if word got out the local cops were arresting under this law...attendence would possibly drop. Regardless you are in violation of this statute.
Want to change this law?
Join forces across all types of radio hobbies and get active.
From Aviation enthusiasts to Weather watchers, From HAMs (who get harrassed time and time again) to NASCAR and INDY fans.. Get...onto your keyboards and for the betterment of the hobby as a whole......DON"T HIDE BEHIND your FCC tickets....instead reach out a hand of cooperation...and type till your fingers get sore.... become empassioned and help modify your law..
Instead of HAMS asking scanner users to join their hobby and change NOTHING.
Scanner users need to ask HAM radio as a body to help them eliminate this type of law regardless of how "protected" Hams may beleive they are from this type of statute...IF it exists it will be mis interpretted often enough to cause hams grief too... So Join up...and change it.
Get out front and ASK your state ARRL to join any resonable effort to modify this law instead of what many a scanner hobbyist percieve is a "holyier than thow, even elitist" type attitude of some HAMS.
Cooperate in the effort to change it instead of feeling (as some do) that those ignorant scanning voyeurs aren't worth helping ....and "I'm a protected class anyway." so who cares.?
Well from little scanner users grow mighty HAMS (maybe)...if they don't abandon the hobby beforehand. Want to broaden you ranks ....sure ask them to join but for the right reasons (like knowledge and companionship and DX expeditions and stuff like that) not to openly thwart state scanner laws.
Did Michigan permit holders back off..from changing their law? NO, they said stuff these permits !
Even though they too were a protected class....they simply had enough...and saw the law as unfair and wanted to protect UNAWARES from being ensnared in a hobbyist nightmare.
Yes HAMS can Scream FEDERAL PRE-EMPT to the top of your lungs, but also scream fairness to all radio users. Protect all, not just a select group...and all (including HAMS) will be treated fairly and eventually all scanner users will be treated simply as hobbyists NOT potential Criminals as they are today. Golfer, scanner user, photographer....hobbyists one and all.
IF you don't Change the law for the better and just let if fester ....every year, year after year, some HAM in nothern Indiana will get popped, next time Evansville, then Richmond and it goes on and on and on (like this reply). Sure he'll EVENTUALLY get off...but it'll inconvienience him, his family and continue to divide the hobby, anger law enforcers (who think no one should have a scanner in a car) and cost him some money in the process..
Thanks for your time and thanks to those in Indiana who helped change the law in MI.....Who'd have thought that would ever happen?, but it finally did..
Mark Bajek
Westland, MI
GTO_04
Member
Well said!
GTO_04
GTO_04
retroactiv
Member
*Claps* Bravo, Bravo....
KR4BD
Member
A couple of comments here.
I have been questioned by the ISP (see my earlier post in this thread) regarding a scanner in my car.
Yes, I am a ham and had no problems as a result.
Hams did not make the Indiana mobile scanner law.
The ARRL is a HAM organization for HAMS that helps HAMS.
Markbajek said:
"Get out front and ASK your state ARRL to join any resonable effort to modify this law instead of what many a scanner hobbyist percieve is a "holyier than thow, even elitist" type attitude of some HAMS".
This is an UNFAIR assessment of hams. Do those who chose NOT TO BE HAMS realize that hams MUST uphold the laws in areas of communication? Their licenses are at risk if they break the law. Scanner-only listeners (non-hams) shouldn't expect the same treatment because they have chosen NOT to be licensed hams. Hams risk the loss of their licenses if they break a radio related law. What do scanner listeners lose here? Certainly not a communications license.
I am not one of the "holier than thou ham or elitist" as Markbajek suggests. And most of the hams I know feel the same way.
Believe me, most hams want MORE hams in the hobby. And, it is really easy to get a Technician license these days. I am a Volunteer Examiner who gives tests monthly and we welcome newcomers with OPEN ARMS.
I have been questioned by the ISP (see my earlier post in this thread) regarding a scanner in my car.
Yes, I am a ham and had no problems as a result.
Hams did not make the Indiana mobile scanner law.
The ARRL is a HAM organization for HAMS that helps HAMS.
Markbajek said:
"Get out front and ASK your state ARRL to join any resonable effort to modify this law instead of what many a scanner hobbyist percieve is a "holyier than thow, even elitist" type attitude of some HAMS".
This is an UNFAIR assessment of hams. Do those who chose NOT TO BE HAMS realize that hams MUST uphold the laws in areas of communication? Their licenses are at risk if they break the law. Scanner-only listeners (non-hams) shouldn't expect the same treatment because they have chosen NOT to be licensed hams. Hams risk the loss of their licenses if they break a radio related law. What do scanner listeners lose here? Certainly not a communications license.
I am not one of the "holier than thou ham or elitist" as Markbajek suggests. And most of the hams I know feel the same way.
Believe me, most hams want MORE hams in the hobby. And, it is really easy to get a Technician license these days. I am a Volunteer Examiner who gives tests monthly and we welcome newcomers with OPEN ARMS.
GTO_04
Member
KR4BD said:
You are quite fortunate. Having a ham license does not necessarily mean you won't have "problems."
KR4BD said:
I don't think that Mark was referring to most hams. But there are some that show that attitude in their posts. But I agree it is a small minority.
I would say that the message is don't assume you are going to be safe just because you have your ham license. I would bet that many LEOs are not even aware of the ham exemption. I have heard first hand an incident when during a traffic stop, the officer found the driver with a scanner. He called in to dispatch for a clarification on the scanner law. The dispatcher never bothered to read back the part about the ham exemption. Busted, ham license or not!
The less AARL gets involved, the more and more restrictions on our hobby we will see! We could lose the ham exemption in a heartbeat. BTW, I am a licensed ham. I found the Technician test to be easy, especially without the morse code requirement. But I am also an electrical engineer so that gives me an advantage. Not everyone will find it so easy.
And I don't see anywhere the suggestion that hams break any law.
GTO_04
KB9WUD
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IFDJason
Member
About five years ago, I was pulled over in my hometown of Greensburg b/c my paper tag had fallen out of the window. At the time, I worked for a small security company that had issued me a radio that had the police frequencies programmed into it. I knew the officer that had pulled me over and he was about to let me go when an over zealous rookie walked up beside him and asked me about the portable radio in the seat next to me (in plain view). I gave it to him and he proceeded to turn it on and go through the channels until he found the city police frequency (he verified this by keying the mic on every channel until it came across his portable).
I was then arrested, charged with a class b misdemeanor, and the radio was seized. I wound up having to have the security company write, sign, and have notorized, a letter stating that the radio was in fact issued to me and was preprogrammed with the police freq in it. The charges were dropped and the company was ordered to reprogram the radios. NOT FUN!
It boils down to the officer and his knowledge of the law and what mood he is in when he stops you!
My advice...keep it in your trunk until you get to the track! Oh, and enjoy the race!
I was then arrested, charged with a class b misdemeanor, and the radio was seized. I wound up having to have the security company write, sign, and have notorized, a letter stating that the radio was in fact issued to me and was preprogrammed with the police freq in it. The charges were dropped and the company was ordered to reprogram the radios. NOT FUN!
It boils down to the officer and his knowledge of the law and what mood he is in when he stops you!
My advice...keep it in your trunk until you get to the track! Oh, and enjoy the race!
WOW - I just purchased a scanner for weather alerts (tornados) and for taking to the tracks - kokomo, gas city, winchester, indy, eldora etc etc ... I had no idea that I could be arrested for having it outside of my home.
I simply dont understand what the big fuss is about, and why such a law is on file here in Indiana. I do have public safety channels programmed in, and according to the last post, I could possibly be arrested for that if I got pulled over on my way to or from a race event. IMHO thats a crock of BS! I guess Alex Jones has got it all right ...
I simply dont understand what the big fuss is about, and why such a law is on file here in Indiana. I do have public safety channels programmed in, and according to the last post, I could possibly be arrested for that if I got pulled over on my way to or from a race event. IMHO thats a crock of BS! I guess Alex Jones has got it all right ...
GTO_04
Member
Go-24 said:
You can get arrested at the track too! A pedestrian is not allowed to have a portable scanner either unless you are at home on your own property. So if you're at the track, and you run into a cop that's had a bad day, all bets are off! Now others are going to chime in and say "I've never had a problem." But that is no guarantee that you won't have one in the future. Take a scanner to the track, and you are violating the law, period! There are no exemptions for race fans!
GTO_04
Our state shouldnt sale them then - each seller/reseller outlet is aiding and abetting an illegal act. If they are going to sell them in state they should inform the purchaser that the "mobile" scanner can not be used in that manner. LOL
I havent checked all the details, btu isnt this an old law from the late eighties? Time to get a lobbyist to the state house and get something done.
I havent checked all the details, btu isnt this an old law from the late eighties? Time to get a lobbyist to the state house and get something done.
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retroactiv
Member
http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/
I have personally already sent my legislators in the state house and senate messages about what I feel about the law if more people would go to the above website and do the samething maybe we could get something to happen...
I have personally already sent my legislators in the state house and senate messages about what I feel about the law if more people would go to the above website and do the samething maybe we could get something to happen...
GTO_04
Member
retroactiv said:
Best idea yet!
GTO_04
dlbrock
Member
Good idea! I did my part and sent my feedback. Now if everyone will follow and do the same, it may make a difference. It only takes a few minutes of your time. Anymore the only way to get something like this changed is to speak in volumes. We need everyone's help on this one!
Thanks,
Doug
Thanks,
Doug
HockeyMask
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I had a buddy who got pulled over with one in his car and got a $250 fine. He was told he could have it in the car but without batteries or lighter adapter. True/Untrue? Every Indy race morning the newspaper has the scanner frequencies for each team.. I would be surprised if anything would happen if you were taking a scanner into the track.
GTO_04
Member
Maybe the law enforcement officers that work the track have been told to look the other way when race fans are carrying scanners! What hypocrisy! But that's the way it is until enough of us complain about it.
The race fan angle would be a good argument to use when contacting legislators. But OTOH they may only modify the law to allow scanners only at the track and one's house. You never know until you try.
GTO_04
The race fan angle would be a good argument to use when contacting legislators. But OTOH they may only modify the law to allow scanners only at the track and one's house. You never know until you try.
GTO_04
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