You run a public safety feed so obviously can still listen to public safety If you don't want to spend $600 that is up to you.
Last of the scanners: Are police security measures and new technologies killing an American obsession?
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WX9RLT
Top Dawg
Again, I will NO LONGER be buying anymore scanners............ If you can't hear what you want to listen too, pointless to BUY anymore in the future
Good for you.
WX9RLT
Top Dawg
LOL.......... Explain what the point is to spend $600 to listen to taxi's and businesses???
What is the point of repeatedly announcing you will not be buying a new scanner?
I threw together a few thoughts on encryption. Public Safety USA: Public safety radio encryption in the USA
I'm like you. I'll listen to public safety and maybe aircraft but I don't give a hoot about my neighbor's baby monitor, the McDonald's drive-thru, Walmart or the local taxis.
Indeed.That was an excellent read and I agree with your thoughts on the matter.
abbadabbado
Member
to not have oversite of the police is a false statement. tell that to the dead people of the old nazi germany hense the secret police
Sadly, the Grand Jury has no opportunity unless it reaches them. I heard a car crash a couple of years ago and turned on my scanner to see what was happening. The radio traffic mentioned that an off duty State Trooper had wrecked his car (at 0230) and then fled the scene only to return and flee again on scene before the responding LE could speak with him. I listened in disbelief as they drove to his house, watched from outside while he “put on his socks”, then they drove him back to the scene after commenting on his signs of intoxication. Reading the newspaper the next day I saw nothing. I contacted the local reporter for details and she had heard nothing. I gave her the tip and she contacted LE and the communication center through a detective who told her “Nothing fitting that description happened”. They not only DID NOT arrest the apparently intoxicated State Trooper who allegedly committed a hit and run, they actively denied it ever happened. As a former EMT-P, firefighter, and son of a retired State Trooper, I feel very strongly that there should be public oversight of most LE/FD/EMS, etc for reasons exactly like this. Can we agree on the benefit of having “Scannerland” minding the store?
While all that may have happened, what, pray tell, will you do about it? You go to the official sources and they "actively denied it ever happened." I don't know that you have the authority to go anywhere else, if, in fact, there is anywhere else to go.
As to "'Scannerland' minding the store," peruse the posts from "Scannerland" in this forum. Do you really want them minding the store?
DJ11DLN
Member
This sort of thing unfortunately does happen, I have personal knowledge of a couple of such incidents where the "good ol' boy network" kicked in to keep a brother Officer who had a lapse out of trouble. While people with scanners may not be the answer, I think we can all agree that oversight of LE is both important and, sadly, often very deficient.
And I don't see where the general public being able to monitor routine traffic hurts anything. Sure, there are things that need to be kept close to the vest, but people listening to general Dispatch and the chit-chat that often happens on "tact 1/ops 1/talk/whatever they call it" certainly poses no significant threat to officer safety. And whenever somebody starts pontificating about officer safety, I tend to ask them if they ever stopped to consider that most people seeking to create a career in Public Safety have indeed had the opportunity to consider that their chosen career path is very likely going to come with some risks.
No, there's probably no significant additional risk by letting the public listen in but you chose a bad example as a means of illustration.
That's like saying, "Don't join the army. You might get killed." or "Let your grandmother die. She's old anyway." There are some renegade officers but the vast majority of them perform a vital service, are dedicated to their jobs and they try to minimize the risks.
With some work documenting (what was heard on scanner and, better yet, recorded is very useful here), there are many ways to go with the information to shed light and apply public/political pressure in such a situation. It requires dedication and lots of time but there are legitimate avenues for redress of grievance. Sometimes it includes, but is certainly not limited to, protesting outside the alleged perpetrator's department, his house, and the house of his boss. Showing up at every local government meeting and making it a huge thorn in the side of the powers that be is another tool in the toolbox. Been there, done that. It can be very effective. In some places, public records laws have teeth. If you formally request public records on an incident and they claim it never happened when you have clear evidence to the contrary, it generally won't go well for them.
I hope not, but that sounds like the argument that the People are incapable of governing themselves. King George got our answer to that thinking a mighty long time ago; The Declaration of Independence. If you re-read that document, I believe that you will find it squarely at odds with your post.
DJ11DLN
Member
Not trying to be a smart-alek but what makes it a poor example? I think most adults understand that if you choose to become a LEO, Firefighter, EMT, etc there is going to be an element of risk involved, just as there is by choosing a career in the military. And I think the vast majority admire people who choose to take those risks. And those risks should be minimized where practical and within reason. But waving the officer-safety flag too much carries risks of its own. If we pursue this avenue, at some point nothing gets done because somebody might have to go into harm's way. Put simply, these jobs carry risk. People who do these jobs assume that risk. If you aren't willing to do so, you probably don't belong in PS (or in a long list of other jobs, with the military at the head of that list).
And while I tend to agree with you in re the vast majority of Officers being upstanding folk, I kind of resent the implied placing of words into my mouth regarding the callousness referenced in the first three sentences of your reply. I'd never say anything like that to you or to anybody else for that matter.
Sounds to me like he chose a very good example; and ipfd320 has some good ideas on how to proceed.
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