Digital System Mutes Police Scanners

LoveToHateMe (re: Post Falls police going to digital system, which can’t be picked up by regular police scanners): By my understanding, digital systems scramble the frequency every time a transmission is made, in order to prevent the public from being able to monitor police activities. This helps prevent situations such as the one a couple of months ago where the man shot by the Post Falls Police allegedly had a radio scanner in his car and was listening to their updates while they were pursuing him.

DFO: That’s the extreme side of the police scanner picture. On the upside, it allows average citizens to keep track of what their police are doing. Which is mostly good work. Also, Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug told me that his department has gotten a lot of tips from HBO Scanner Traffic readers. He appreciates the many mentions that his officers get each work day on Huckleberries.

Question: Would you rather have the police be able to communication to one another without the public tuned in? Or take the chance that an occasional bad guy is monitoring frequencies while the public listens in?