[ScanIndiana] 1 reason I like scanners

[scanindiana@mailman.qth.net]

One reason I like scanners is so I know who gets pulled over in my city.
Another is so if someone in my family gets hurt or something the fire &
rescue get called out and I hear it on my scanner, by the way does anybody
know if it is illegal to use a hand-held scanner in a car (that's what I
got)?
Chance Westfall     westfallchance@hotmail.com

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"Portable" scanners are illegal everywhere in Indiana... All those scanners
being used at the Indy speedway every May could be confiscated. The only
legal ones are those that use household current.

I carried a scanner in the car for years with a letter from my Nephew, who
was the Chief of Police of a town nearby. Then he went and got himself
elected Judge, and the new C.O.P. wouldn't renew my letter. So I broke down
and got a Ham license.

Do yourself a favor and get a Ham license. You can study for it online,
it's a piece of cake, and a small price to pay for peace of mind.

This is the law... (you can read it online if you wish, at
http://www.state.in.us/legislative/ic/code/title35/ar44/ch3.html)

Indiana Code 35-44-3-12
Enacted 1977, Amended 1994

IC 35-44-3-12 Sec. 12.

(a) A person who knowingly or intentionally:
   (1) possesses a police radio;
   (2) transmits over a frequency assigned for police emergency
      purposes; or
   (3) possesses or uses a police radio:
     (A) while committing a crime;
     (B) to further the commission of a crime; or
     (C) to avoid detection by a law enforcement agency;
    commits unlawful use of a police radio, a Class B misdemeanor.

(b) Subsection (a)(1) and (a)(2) do not apply to:
   (1) a governmental entity;
   (2) a regularly employed law enforcement officer;
   (3) a common carrier of persons for hire whose vehicles are used in
      emergency service;
   (4) a public service or utility company whose vehicles are used in
      emergency service;
   (5) a person who has written permission from the chief executive
      officer of a law enforcement agency to possess a police radio;
   (6) a person who holds an amateur radio license issued by the Federal
      Communications Commission if the person is not transmitting over a
      frequency assigned for police emergency purposes;
   (7) a person who uses a police radio only in the person's dwelling or
      place of business;
   (8) a person:
     (A) who is regularly engaged in newsgathering activities;
     (B) who is employed by a newspaper qualified to receive legal
         advertisements under IC 5-3-1, a wire service, or a licensed
         commercial or public radio or television station; and
     (C) whose name is furnished by his employer to the chief executive
         officer of a law enforcement agency in the county in which the
         employer's principal office is located;
   (9) a person engaged in the business of manufacturing or selling
      police radios; or
  (10) a person who possesses or uses a police radio during the normal
      course of the person's lawful business.

(c) As used in this section, "police radio" means a radio that is capable
of sending or receiving signals transmitted on frequencies assigned by the
Federal Communications Commission for police emergency purposes and that:
  (1) can be installed, maintained, or operated in a vehicle; or
  (2) can be operated while it is being carried by an individual.
The term does not include a radio designed for use only in a dwelling.

As added by Acts 1977, P.L.342, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.162-1994, SEC.1.