Vehicle Monitoring Question

[LSD4me]

I just programmed my bc296d with 9 banks of information and i'm sitting here thinking that most of it is useless for my purposes :roll: ...I want to be able to monitor traffic realted data such as vehicle stops / highway patrol etc... I cant seem to figure out which freq/trunkID to program in for what I want. I was looking at the RR database here and see a whole bunch of similar type of naming schemes between states/counties....Ex.,
Tactical 1, Tactical 2, Supervisor...etc.....Are the Tacticals the ones I should be listening to for what I want or is it something else. I hope im being clear in my request but PM me if you are unsure. Thanks for your help!!!!!

 

[fmon]

Tactical 1, Tactical 2, Supervisor...etc.....Are the Tacticals the ones I should be listening to for what I want or is it something else. I hope im being clear in my request but PM me if you are unsure. Thanks for your help!!!!!

Yes scan all of these ID's related to the group, Tac is usually some form to get off of the main ID, which is usually a dispatcher ID or controller of the group. Supervisor is usually a Sgt or Lt, and provides advisory in a higher profile situation. All of the TG's will scan rapidly and normally the dispatch traffic is used the most. Provide the name of the system, someone can take a look at the RR listing and maybe better help you.

 

[LSD4me]

I have all that information inputed into the scanner and just for clarification, i am talking about Philadelphia, PA. I want to be able to monitor patrols of I95 and surrounding highways. I am already monitoing PA State PD but not much traffic is heard from them arfound the philly area and philly PD patrols most of I95 between Downtown philly up to 20 miles north....Philadlphia is on a APCO-25 and i have all the ID's put into the banks for NW,N,NE,W,C,E,SW,S,SW philadelphia. The only thing i can monitor is the locatio specific ID's depending on where im at...all information is heard atrand most of it is not traffic related (robbery, etc...) Is there any way to monitor just the traffic portion? Do you kind of know what im looking for better?

 

[AZScanner]

I have all that information inputed into the scanner and just for clarification, i am talking about Philadelphia, PA. I want to be able to monitor patrols of I95 and surrounding highways. ...Is there any way to monitor just the traffic portion? Do you kind of know what im looking for better?

Can't speak for Philly as I've never monitored them, but my guess is that most traffic stops are handled via the MDT or in-car computer terminal. If this is the case, you will rarely hear one, unless the driver has warrants or something, even then the dispatcher will simply ask the officer to check his MDT for the info. With MDT's, t-stops are as simple as pressing one button to inform dispatch of the stop, one to check records, and one to dispo it out and go available again. No one has to say anything to a dispatcher over the radio.

Can I ask why the interest in t-stops? Pretty boring listening if you ask me... I'd rather hear more interesting stuff like chases and major incidents.

-AZ

 

[loumaag]

Well I am not in Philly, but looking at the setup here on the DB, it seems that if you were interested in Traffic (stops, accidents, etc.) the "T" Band might be what you want to monitor as a priority. Then the districts. Whereas I agree in part with AZScanner that a lot of the information will be handled by MDT, I don't think (even in Phoenix) that the initial notification of a traffic stop, or the initial notification of a traffic accident/incident is done via MDT. It is just too complicated. The reason an officer lets the dispatcher know he/she is doing a traffic stop is let the disptacher know that is what they are doing and most importantly where he/she is doing it. Unless MDT's are GPS enabled this is necessary so the dispatcher knows and even if they are GPS enabled, other units will be aware of it in case a need for backup arises.

 

[fmon]

It appears if you have programmed the 19 or so for police in the bank and are scanning in ID SCAN with Uniden or Closed Mode with GRE, you should be picking up all listed traffic for PD. And as stated by AZ, using MDT for routine traffic keeps the voice net open for higher priority coms. I also agree, that routine stops are boring unless it develops into criminal activity, need for a search or to execute a warrant etc.

Of course, AZ (I think it was him) recently presented a routine stop scenario of interest to most scannist in the RR Bar Brawl. :wink:

BTW, your system may have many more TG's for PD. I find it hard to believe that a complete zone for a police force of that size is limited to 19 talkgroups, of course much of it (SWAT et al) could be encrypted rendering it useless to monitor.

 

[AZScanner]

Whereas I agree in part with AZScanner that a lot of the information will be handled by MDT, I don't think (even in Phoenix) that the initial notification of a traffic stop, or the initial notification of a traffic accident/incident is done via MDT. It is just too complicated.

Out here, they call out code-6 with the location and license plate. But they could do it all via MDT if they wanted. Both Phoenix and Mesa have GPS tracking of all PD and fire vehicles. 99% of all traffic stops turn out to be routine... but yes, as fmon said, once in a while they get pretty interesting!

-AZ