Listening on the transmissions of emergency service providers has been a practice of criminals, reporter, and the curious for years. The scanners which they all use to eavesdrop are simply radio receivers which are capable of tracking hundreds of frequencies not normally available to the casual radio listener.

While those who just want some excitement on a lonely Saturday night might like to listen for the latest cops-and-robbers scenarios from the safety of their living rooms, there are many people with far more sinister motives using radio scanners to keep track of what law enforcement is doing.

But not only law enforcement agencies are relying on private radio communications; other emergency services and corporations use high frequency communication to keep private information private. In an effort to thwart the rising number of people with radio scanners who wish to intrude on their communication, they began to adopt digital broadcasting. This approach reduced their problems for a while, but eventually more than one electronics manufacturer realized that had a potential new market existed, and began producing a digital radio scanner.

APCO Project 25

After 9/11, the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials introduced APCO Project 25, an attempt to reserve a spectrum on digital frequencies for law enforcement and emergency use. They are deliberately chosen to be available to first responders in emergencies or for transmitting sensitive information. But the digital radio scanner has made them as accessible to the listening public as the old scanners made the high frequency broadcasts. A digital radio scanner is available for purchase online or at numerous brick and mortar electronics stores. For more info see http://www.digitalradio-review.com/ on Digital Radion Online

Encryption

In the post 9/11 world, the US government is becoming ever more concerned about its security, and the digital radio scanner is under scrutiny in government circles. Although some civil liberties advocates have defended the right of the public to control the airwaves, digital and otherwise, in some parts of the country law enforcement agencies have simply chosen to avoid being scanned by encrypting their broadcasts.

While more than one digital radio scanner is capable of demodulating some digital signals like those of APCO Project 25, any digital radio scanners designed for signal decryption have been legally banned. Violations are punishable by jail time, fines, or both. And some US states have passed laws making it illegal for any one convicted of a crime to have either a digital radio scanner or the traditional variety.