According to the database, Chester SD, PD and Great Falls PD all use talkgroups on Palmetto 800. As does SCHP and many other state agencies. As do agencies in Fairfield and Lancaster Counties. This system is getting ready to switch to a P25 all-digital system within the next few months. Many of the listening opportunities may be lost to owners of analog-only scanners once this switch is made.
I have 2 caveats to that statement -
I seem to remember a discussion years ago about LE agencies in Chester County abandoning Palmetto 800 and switching back to VHF due to the service costs for Palmetto 800. If they're still on VHF analog, then the change of Palmetto 800 to P25 would not be as significant. If that's the case, I'd like to know so I can update the database.
If the Chester Co LE agencies are on Palmetto 800, and they switch to P25 in the next few months, it's possible they could choose to encrypt their channels on the new system. In this case, no scanner would be able to monitor their radio transmissions, again making the change less significant.
Purchasing a digital scanner will help ensure that your friend can listen to most radio systems (that aren't encrypted) now and in the future. But in some circumstances, it can also be overkill for an area that uses analog conventional VHF radio systems.
Brian