While I can under stand wanting to listen to what is going on in those areas, your dad or sister should contact those department. They will know what has gone on in the past as far as crime or the lack of. You can't get that kind of info by listening to a scanner for a few hours driving around looking at houses. Just explain to the front desk at the PD why you are asking for that info and I will bet they will be more than happy to share what they know. I can't tell you who many times people stop by my fire station and ask me the same thing. Just my .02 worth.
Definitely an idea worth trying but i bet they won't. Crime stats are a often treated as source embarrassment especially if they are not good. Developing information, forming an opinion or making a decision based on a few hours of monitoring is not the best way to make a decision here in my opinion cant hurt but I would seek more input.
When you ge to the PD- don't be surprised when you get little to no information. I have seen coworkers get in real hot water engaging in such conversations when they are candid and a real estate agent looses a sale. In these days of Political Correctness, community based feel good programs and IA Investigations at the drop of a hat, all foster a chilling toward the PD telling you anything bad.
Remember crime stats are a huge money game and are often heavily manipulated in the lower profile categories (not murders, robberies and sex assaults but other stuff) where no one notices and there migth be some grant money at stake. One of my favorite sayiings: "you can use stats like a drunk uses a light standard- for support or illumination". Commonly, PD's use them to support ecomonic goals.
If you Really want to know what is going on, try to happen across a beat cop in the area you are looking at. if there are no witnesses around and you approach him/her with 'this is between me and you conversation, I do not even want to know your name and this between us" kinda presentation then I would say you stand a chance at the truth.
You also have to ask for a personal opinion- not the departments view- 'Would you live in this area?" might be a good place to start. Generally, speaking, I would never encourage someone to contact a cop on the street but in this circumstance, it is about the only way.
Do not attempt contact on a car stop, obviously on call or flag down an cop. Find one alone, perhaps parked and writing or otherwise making use of downtime.
Approach from the front, park and walk up- do not pull up next to him.her. Make sure they know you are there before you approach. A conscientious cop will likely get out of the car to contact you rather than be trapped in a tin can- this pisses them off abit also. Either way you have seconds to convert this into a positive contact.
Reassure them, remember you usaully exit a business contact the same way you enter it- if it goes badly from the get-go just forget it and move on graciously.Be prepared for this and do not take it personally. just move on.
Either way, APOLOGIZE right off the bat for bothering them because you will be - cops hate this type of citizen initiated contact- it usually not good news. A small community policing station might be a better place to start- just try not to ask the copper in front of any witnesses or you will get the PC answer. If you are referred to the PD then you are being told that he/she does not feel comfortable about talking about this subject. You are likely done at this point and will have to go to the PD. Tell them this conversation is completely between you and them, they might open up but probably not.
Back to the PD, be prepared to get nothing more than a view of some crime mapping data or a conversation with a supervisor who has never really worked the street or has not in sometime. You will likely get only middle of the road answers either because he/she has no idea what is really taking place in the area or is paid to paint pretty pictures for the public. Crime reporting is only about 1/3 of the story of a neighborhood- the rest only the beat cops really know.
If you do get any 'REAL' answers, DO NOT SHARE THEM WITH YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. You will likely be setting fire to that cop. Keep it to yourself. Real estate agents tend to be territorial and petty folks when their commission is at stake and want to be your sole source of information- especially if they trying to shoehorn you into a particular place.
Please forgive grammar and spelling errors. I am typing this from bed. my back is killing me and my concentration and accuracy it a bit off at the moment. Good luck the move.
