So anyone get pulled over
Yes, many times.
...and get grilled by a Police Officer regarding their scanner?
Never.
As for the laws in the L.A. area laws cited by the Monitoring Times, the lead in discussion is overblown. I don't think there are very many people, including law enforcement and fire department personnel, that know about these laws... There are probably more scanners mounted in vehicles and carried by people in the L.A. area than anywhere else in the country.
And that included my cars and motorcycles when I lived and drove in L.A. from 1965-1987.
As I've mentioned here before, I've had under-dash monitors and then scanners mounted IN PLAIN SIGHT in most every vehicle I've owned for the past 44 years. I get traffic-stopped with probably "typical" frequency, maybe once every five or six years, usually for legitimate screw-ups I've committed. In all that time only twice has the officer even
mentioned the scanner, and even then only in a "by the way" conversational tone of voice. I do try to unobtrusively turn it off as soon as I sense that I may be about to be nailed... don't need to have an officer hearing his own calls coming from MY car!
One stop was by a LA County Deputy Sheriff, who are not generally known for their flexibility, at the extreme south end of Crenshaw in what's now their Lomita station area, and the other was by a Trinity River CHP officer, who are also all-business and are said to be prone to even cite their grandmothers if they get half a chance.
In both instances they asked "Is that a scanner?" "Yes, sir, it is." The deputy also asked "Are you listening to
us?" to which I replied, "No, I mostly listen to LAPD, the fire department, and trains. I hardly ever listen to you guys, those 'busy beeps' of yours drive me nuts." He tried to suppress a giggle, wrote me a well-deserved stop-sign ticket, and that was that. (LASO doesn't generally use repeater mode, but rather it transmits a marker tone every couple seconds whenever a mobile is transmitting). The CHP guy asked me, "is that a ham rig or a scanner?" I told him, "It's a ham radio but I scan with it too" to which he answered, "Yea, I noticed the dualband antenna on your trunk." He then politely scratched me out a cite for expired tags. It seems to me we also exchanged ham call signs, but that might have been another occasion.
EDIT:
And after two incidents when I was much younger, I've never since identified myself as a (then-current or now-retired) police employee. In two speeding-ticket stops, one by South Pasadena PD and one by CHP, I ID'd myself as a dispatcher for LAPD. Big mistake. Both of them really read me the riot act about "Of all people, YOU should know better..." SPPD wrote me the ticket, but the CHP ofcr finally chilled and let me go after first giving me the option of "Do you want a ticket, or would you rather I have my commanding officer send your commanding officer a letter and let LAPD handle it?" I later realized he was BSing me, but he had caught me going 85 or something on I-5 back when that wasn't the norm thru the San Joaquin Valley. Geez, I had a lead foot when I was young.
Back to the widely-maligned, but even more widely unenforced L.A. City ordinance. About a year ago I discovered the case of two brothers, Roy and Henry Hastings, who were arrested on June 17 1957 for "responding" to a LAPD traffic accident radio call at Topanga Canyon and Saticoy. When they went to trial, after the prosecutor put on his case, Hizzoner Judge Harold Shepherd interrupted the defense attorney and told him not to even bother starting his defense as he (the judge) felt that LAMC 52.44 was unconstitutional, saying,
"I fail to see how the authorities - City Council, State Legislature or Federal government can tell you what to listen to and what not to listen to when it is broadcast over the air. Nobody can tell you that you can't listen to something per se; the mere listening is not a crime.
"The code says you cannot listen through a car radio to a police broadcast. They want to prevent people from cluttering up the scene of an accident. But I don't think this law covers it.
"They'll have to tie something to it, such as making it illeal to do something pursuant to a police broadcast." (LA Times, 8/29/1957)
The charges were dropped and the case was never "published" - meaning it can't be used as precedent or cited or relied on by other courts or parties.
The Hastings brothers went on their way, and Judge Shepherd eventually wound up in Superior Court, where he presided over the retrial and second conviction of
"Onion Field" murderer Jimmy Lee Smith. And I either got or didn't get my tickets each time, regardless of the scanners.
The Hastings brothers incident is the only specific instance I've heard of that LAPD's ever arrested or cited anyone for it, other than occasionally tacking it on to "bandit" tow-truck driver arrests or, back in the 1930s, ambulance-chasing attorneys.
*EDIT* The example of Jack Garritson the Monitoring Times used is a poor one in this context. Our buddy Jack was transmitting on every frequency he could get equipment for. He had a long standing habit of causing malicious harmful interference by transmitting on ham radio, including a wide area ham network that I often use. He was transmitting on law enforcement frequencies as well. He was transmitting and that is what he was convicted for. Relating this example to scanners is poor journalism, just like the hyped introductory statements.
Absolutely. And old (he's 73 now) Jack is still cooling his heels inside Terminal Island Prison, and will be for another two years:
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The unwritten rule for the hobby is to not draw attention to your use of the radio.
That really is the bottom line, at least in California. Scanners just aren't a big deal with >99% of the cops as long as you ain't misbehavin'