I had an experience about 10 years ago when I unknowingly jogged in a large park that an armed robbery suspect had just escaped into. I matched the basic description (WM, dark T-shirt) and all a sudden a police officer pops out of the bushes and asks to see my ID. I don't know if anyone was listening on the scanner, though.
Much of the activity I have heard on scanners is mundane: running plates, responding to alarms, ambulance calls, noise complaints, accidents blocking traffic, minor disputes where one side feels compelled to summon the police.
There are the tragedies. Lots of medical calls where someone is unresponsive, which could be anything from an OD to a heart attack. "Domestic calls," usually fights between spouses or parents and adult children. Mental health emergencies. Seniors wandering the street, who have forgotten where they live.
Then there are the serious emergencies: fires, armed robberies, once a car chase. When I first got started decades ago there was a Boston police channel that a gang unit sometimes used but since then they appear to have migrated to a non-public frequency. I frequently hear police now asking specific colleagues to call them, I assume because the info shouldn't be shared over the regular dispatch frequency or would take too long to explain and tie up the channel.
Not that much regular FM emergency traffic here in SF Bay Area. Most is trunked on some digital system; not sure whether you can decode, but maybe with the right SDR.
I remember having an 800MHz scanner in the 80's when cellular was born, and listening to some unbelievably banal and dull conversations. I learned 80% of cell phone calling is "what's for dinner?" conversations.
Much of the activity I have heard on scanners is mundane: running plates, responding to alarms, ambulance calls, noise complaints, accidents blocking traffic, minor disputes where one side feels compelled to summon the police.
There are the tragedies. Lots of medical calls where someone is unresponsive, which could be anything from an OD to a heart attack. "Domestic calls," usually fights between spouses or parents and adult children. Mental health emergencies. Seniors wandering the street, who have forgotten where they live.
Then there are the serious emergencies: fires, armed robberies, once a car chase. When I first got started decades ago there was a Boston police channel that a gang unit sometimes used but since then they appear to have migrated to a non-public frequency. I frequently hear police now asking specific colleagues to call them, I assume because the info shouldn't be shared over the regular dispatch frequency or would take too long to explain and tie up the channel.