Kansas City Metro Area Scanner Laws

[KE0SKN]

I have called city offices, and i did online research. So please don't kill the Messagger. If you need scanner laws in your area please e-mail me at Kc0vgj@sbcglobal.net and I will try to find your answer. I hope the thread answer some of your question on local and city laws on scanners.


Independence City Scanner Laws: SEC. 18.19.014. COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT IN MOTOR VEHICLES.

No person shall equip any motor vehicle with a communications device tuned or fixed to
receive or transmit messages on any frequency used by the Police Department, or have or use the same in any motor vehicle with in the City limits, unless such motor vehicle is used or owned by the City of Independence, Missouri, or other publicly owned and controlled law-enforcement agency, or, that person is an amateur radio operator with a Federal Communications Commission License.

Kansas City Missouri Laws: Sec.70-853.Prohibited communications devices.

No person shall equip any motor vehicle with any appliance or equipment which may be operated on an ultra-high-frequency radio receiving set, or with a communications device tuned, fixed or tunable to receive or transmit messages on any frequency used by the police department, or have or use such appliance or equipment in any motor vehicle in this city, unless such motor vehicle is used or owned by a police officer or other person whose bona fide duty is to execute, process, make arrests or aid in conserving the public peace, without first securing a permit so to do from the board of police commissioners upon application made to the board; provided, however, this prohibition shall not apply to
amateur radio service transceivers capable of reception of public safety, special emergency or other radio service frequencies, the reception of which is not prohibited by federal law. In any application so made, it shall be shown to the board of police commissioners that the use of the appliance or equipment described in this section is required by the applicant in his business, occupation or employment, or will be available as an aid in enforcement work in case of public emergency. (Code of Gen. Ords. 1967, § 34.321; Ord. No.-
41525, 10-20-72; Ord. No. 56381, 8-16-84)

Grandview Laws: Sec. 14-118. Communications equipment in motor vehicles.

No persons shall equip any motor vehicle with a communications device tuned or fixed to receive or transmit messages on any frequency used by the police department or have or use the same in any motor vehicle with in the city limits, unless such motor vehicle is used or owned by a police officer or other person whose bona fide duty is to execute process,
make arrests or aid in conserving the public peace, without first securing a permit from the board of aldermen upon application made to them.In any application so made, it shall be shown to he board of aldermen that the use of the appliance or equipment herein is required by the applicant in his business, occupation or employment, or will be available as an aid in enforcement work in case of public emergency. Ord. No. 964, art. 19, § 14

Raytown: Illegal in use of committing a crime.

Gladstone: Illegal in use of committing a crime.

Lees Summit: Illegal in use of committing a crime.

Liberty: Sec. 20-16. Public safety communications monitoring equipment.

It shall be unlawful for any person, except a member of a police or fire department or a person with the written authorization as provided herein, to have in his or her possession, or to install, equip or operate any motor vehicle within this city with a radio set or apparatus capable of either receiving or transmitting radio or other messages or signals within the wave length or channel now or which may hereafter be allocated by the Federal Communications Commission, or its successor, for the purpose of law enforcement or fire protection radios, or which may in any way intercept or interfere with the transmission of radio messages by any law enforcement or fire protection agency. Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the possession of a radio capable of monitoring police or fire communications by:

(1) An individual, who is a retailer or wholesaler, and who in the ordinary course of business offers such radios for sale, resale or trade; or
(2) A commercial or educational radio or television station, licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, at its place of business; or
(3) Licensed, commercial, motor vehicle towing trucks (so long as said use of a scanner is other than to attempt to circumvent the city tow contract by soliciting business at accident scenes and turning nonpreferential tows into preferential tows), newspaper reporters and photographers, disaster and emergency services personnel, and individuals operating amateur radio service transceivers as amateurs and in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission's rules and regulations; or
(4) Individuals who possess scanners in their dwelling or motor vehicles so long as there is no violation of the following section or any other related section of this code.
It shall further be illegal for any purpose to intercept any message or transmission made on or over any police, fire or emergency medical communications system and to use any information obtained thereby to facilitate the commission of a crime or a violation of any law, or use the same in a manner which interferes with the discharge of police, fire or emergency medical operations, or with the follow-up or answering to any such call.
Any person desiring to possess in public a radio set or other apparatus, as is defined in this section, except for police, fire and persons acting in an official capacity on behalf of the city or other governmental agency, shall make an application for a permit. For such a permit to be approved, it must be shown to the police chief that the use of the radio set or apparatus herein is required by the applicant in his or her business, occupation, employment, or will be available as an aid in law enforcement work in case of public emergency, or that said applicant is a police and fire scanner enthusiast and meets the background requirements of the background check included on the permit application. Conviction by any court of competent jurisdiction of a violation of any criminal statutes shall serve as grounds for rejecting a permit. Rejections of any permits by the police chief are appealable to the city administrator. Persons possessing a permit, when engaged in the activities covered by the permit, shall be required to produce the permit immediately upon the request of any law enforcement officer. Persons granted such permits shall agree to abide by the operating rules promulgated by the police chief.

Sugar Creek: Illegal in use of committing a crime.

 

[Bluesfan]

Two things: What does Illegal in use of committing a crime mean? That if I have use one while commiting a crime I can be charged for that also?

And second, most of these say you "shall not equip a car" I take that to mean you can not have a mobile unit installed in your vehicle. I carry portable units that are not fixed. Is that also illegal?

 

[KE0SKN]

I know these Laws are Confussing... Some don't make any sense. Ok To Answer your questions:

Q1. What does Illegal in use of committing a crime mean?
A. Using your scanner to listen to know were all the city police are located while you brake into a car, house, ect. and if you happen to trip a alram you would know when and were there comming from and leave before you get caught. Yes you can be charge with a city charge and a federal charge.

Q. I carry a portable units an that is not fixed to the vehical. Is that also illegal?
A. Yes it is. You can't have a porable scanner in your car or in the publice. The police have resently been order to take any scanner away and fined the person heavly. I last year I got pulled over by the city of independence and they gave me more problems over the scanner then the license plat light being out. (whicht they pulled me over for) The fine can go up to $500.00. Some cops don't know that there laws exempting hams operators, so its a good idea to carry a copy of your ham license and a copy of there city laws to show them so you can get out of a bind.

Some city will let you have a porable as long it not plugged into you power source. They will get you for a fixed scanner in your care. ( THE CAUGHT 22)

 

[oldsarge]

The key wording here is 'equip'. Which would mean 'install'. Therefore if you have a portable scanner not installed in a motor vehicle, you should be just fine. I wonder if my GMRS FCC license qualifies?? At any rate, I don't think the cops are out looking for scanners with so much other crime going on in the area.

 

[KE0SKN]

I wish the word equip was true. My freind had his hand held scanner taken up while walking on hwy 24 in independence. The officer told him that he could not have a scanner in public it the law. What gets me is that the older police officers " I mean the Old ways cops" will always ask you whats up with the scanner and if you answer back with respect "just listing as a hobby" they will tell you ticks to the trade, But if a young buck cop come up to you and you got a scanner in your hand they will take it up with out asking you why you have it.

I don't know way these city would just stick to a law like " Eligal to use while committing a crime" this way they also got you on a fedal charge.

I have many encounters with independence cops. I live in the city limits right on 23st and s. claremont ave. area. I walk all over that area to shop or to get rid of some weight i have. I haved cops ask me to take my scanner home or have it taken up.

I also got pulled over for haveing a scanner in my car. They told me that they pulled me over becuase i was a strang car in the area and they never seen my car before. Ya right.... In front of my house that I have lived here for 8yrs with the same car... They tryed to give me a ticket for my scanner but I asked the cop to call his supervisor and to check the law on ham radio operators exmption... Needless to say I was relessed from that ticket.

I have notice that every cop that pulled me over was a young cop. But the good old boys I get along just fine.

Just carry with you, your license and a copy of the f.c.c docket that exmpt. ham radio operators and you will be fine. The Independence Law office has issued to the cheif of police and to all the officers a memo to exmpt the ham radio operaters from the scanner laws. Me and my freind got a ticket for having a ham radio tuned to the independence old 453 frequencies. We went to the law office and the ladie look up the f.c.c laws and got or tickets voided.

I know a lot of Independence Police officers. Most of them are my freinds. They come to my house for coffee and to B.S. I thank them for there hard work and there dedication to the line of work there in. I wish them a safe work day and that they come home to there families.

GOD BLESS THESE MEN AND WOMEN IN THE POLICE FEILDS.... Amen.

 

[oldsarge]

A few things in your posting bother me. One is where you said the copy TOOK the scanner, in other words, confiscated the scanner and without any reason of law or isssuance of a receipt to get the scanner back. This is not legal and it's plain out theft. The police cannot take anything away from you without issuace of a receipt, even if it's to be entered as evidence. It's YOUR property, not theirs and you are not required to have their permission to use it. The other side of the issue is the fact that scanner frequencies belong to the pubic, who are authorized to listen to them as long as they are not committing as crime in the process. If law enforcement has a problem with the public listening to their public frequencies, then they need to petition to have those frequencies blocked like cell phones, Secret Service, FBI,. and other agencies that want to remain private. Depending on what type of radio you have, you don't need a police scanner to hear the police in some places. Back in the 50's, they were broadcasting on regular AM radio down at the end of the dial around 55 or so. For a copy to legally confiscate a scanner from someone, they must first read the law, write a notice to appear in court, issue a receipt for the scanner as it will be used as evidence, and any other notifications required by the department. They just cannot walk up to you and take your property, period. It's theft. Therefore I would ask your friend if his story is 100% true, because if it is, he has one hell of a lawsuit on his hands if he follows through with it. MOST scanner laws state that a scanner may not be used during the commission of a crime. What they also fail to state, is the fact you can monitor most everything with a scanner besides public safety. To deny you public safety monitoring is also denying you access to the thousands of other frequencies that belong to the public and are freely available for monitoring. I would love to take something like this to court if I were an attorney. It would wind up in the Supreme Court for sure. It's never been tried in a court as far as I know. Yeah, some punk ass cop is going to run up on me and snatch my $500 scanner out of my hand, telling me I can't have it. Then he keeps it for himself. Yeah, right.

 

[KE0SKN]

I am glad to read this post and to find some one with my same thinking. Yes the story is true. Me and my freind have been harrass about our scanners. The independence police we know today is a sad story. I mean just about every day there on the news for some stuppit stunt they pulled. They will take there own law like:

Independence City Scanner Laws: SEC. 18.19.014.
No person shall equip any motor vehicle with a communications device tuned or fixed to receive or transmit messages on any frequency used by the Police Department, or have or use the same in any motor vehicle with in the City limits, unless such motor vehicle is used or owned by the City of Independence, Missouri, or other publicly owned and controlled law-enforcement agency, or, that person is an amateur radio operator with a Federal Communications Commission License.

An then they will Twist streach, bend, and pull there own laws to it fits there personality. So that there right and we the commoned people are wrong. But the weakness they have now is that if you carry your F.C.C. radio license for ham radio they will now leave you alone.

Federal law states that its not elegal to have or operate a scanner, but give the state or local laws in city or town the right to limmit the use of radio scanners to non license radio operator. LOOP HOLE "" License Radio Operator"" License who?? HAMS? GMRS?? BUSINESS?? MARINE RADIO?? WHAT?

The F.C.C. Needs to get there act together and clean the mess they started.

 

[Sparky_one]

Oklahoma has addressed this issue

The state legislature addressed the issue of the benefit of having amateur operators out in the field and that they needed something issued by the state to indicate this necessity. Nobody can really tell me if it was to help traveling hams or in case small town police departments get excessively curious about a ham having capable listening devices. So, the state created the Oklahoma Amateur Radio Identification Card. I'm not sure what channels through which it goes, but it has the commissioner's signature on it. It takes about a month to get it back when you apply. Its not very sophisticated as its just a business card with the call sign and a file #. None of the troopers can tell me what it really means but a ham friend told me it was for them to be able to contact someone in a radio emergency. From the looks of the card they send, its not one of their priorities right now. But I do see it being a benefit if some out of state police officer gets inquisitive.

http://www.k5eok.org/docs/Amateur_Radio_State_0001[1].pdf

 

[auxscan]

what if the police band fell within the same band as GMRS. like a radio with a split of 403-470MHZ. GMRS on the 462/467 frequencies and the local police just so happens to operating on the 460MHz. Are you in fact guilty of the scanner law if your transmitting GMRS but your radio can RX Police?

 

[KE0SKN]

UPDATE INFORMATION: At the begging of 2009 the City of Independence had set up a special meeting to redo there Anti-Scanner Laws. It reads as followed:

SEC. 18.19.014. COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT IN MOTOR VEHICLES.
A. No person shall equip any motor vehicle with a communications device tuned or fixed to receive or transmit messages on any frequency used by the Police Department, or have or use the same in any motor vehicle within the City limits, unless such motor vehicle is used or owned by the City of Independence, Missouri, or other publicly owned and controlled law-enforcement agency, or, that person is an amateur radio operator with a Federal Communications Commission License.

With this meeting that took place the Police Department sent out a memo to all officer that Ham Radio operators were allowed to carried and install in there personal P.O.V. a all band scanner. I had no problem with any officer after 2009. All they would do is ask me to show them my ham license and that would be the end of the topic.

 

[wb0wao]

The _intent_ of the exemption is to allow an individual licensed in the Amateur Radio Service to have a ham tranceiver that is capable of monitoring the public safety frequencies installed in their vehicle or carried on their person. The gray area is when they try to define what is specifically exempt. In some jurisdictions it appears that the only exemption is for an actual tranceiver and in others it would be OK to have a scanner. Most of the current crop of mobile and portable rigs have extended coverage so since they cannot overrule the FCC exemption, they have codified their municipal ordnances to allow these rigs to be possesed by ham operators.

Now, no state or municipality can prohibit the use and/or possession of a tranceiver by an individual with a current license grant in the Amateur Radio Service that is capable of receiving signals out of the ham bands. The key here is tranceiver - a scanner may not be exempt depending on how they have written the ordnance. In order to cover all your bases, I would get whatever "permits" and/or letters that would be needed to stay legal - even if it is an opinon from the city attorney or the Chief of Police. The key is to get it in writing so you can show the officer if it comes to that.

Dennis

 

[ElGenio]

Thanks for the info. I'm in Independence every once and a great while and have family there.