From an article in today's edition of the New York Times.
"The report crackled across the Indianapolis police radio on a recent morning: Two aggressive pit bulls, no leashes in sight, were roaming, a caller complained. Then came an alert about a motorist, possibly armed, en route to Indianapolis, reportedly with homicidal thoughts.
"Later, the police were dispatched to look into reports of overdoses, suicidal people and domestic violence.
"Through it all, hundreds of Indianapolis residents listened.
"Once accessible to a relatively small number of emergency radio enthusiasts who invested in hardware and developed technical expertise, emergency dispatch channels have garnered huge audiences in recent years as websites and apps made tuning in as easy as turning on the television."
...
"Americans have long listened to emergency communication channels. A few decades ago, tuning in required buying a radio, outfitting it with a crystal and learning to set it to the desired frequency.
"That all changed in 2012 after the launch of Broadcastify, a company that gathered thousands of emergency and aviation radio feeds and made them accessible to a constellation of websites and apps. Broadcastify and the platforms that rely on its feeds have free versions supported by ads and premium ones that are ad-free and provide access to archives."
"The report crackled across the Indianapolis police radio on a recent morning: Two aggressive pit bulls, no leashes in sight, were roaming, a caller complained. Then came an alert about a motorist, possibly armed, en route to Indianapolis, reportedly with homicidal thoughts.
"Later, the police were dispatched to look into reports of overdoses, suicidal people and domestic violence.
"Through it all, hundreds of Indianapolis residents listened.
"Once accessible to a relatively small number of emergency radio enthusiasts who invested in hardware and developed technical expertise, emergency dispatch channels have garnered huge audiences in recent years as websites and apps made tuning in as easy as turning on the television."
...
"Americans have long listened to emergency communication channels. A few decades ago, tuning in required buying a radio, outfitting it with a crystal and learning to set it to the desired frequency.
"That all changed in 2012 after the launch of Broadcastify, a company that gathered thousands of emergency and aviation radio feeds and made them accessible to a constellation of websites and apps. Broadcastify and the platforms that rely on its feeds have free versions supported by ads and premium ones that are ad-free and provide access to archives."
