Editorial: Listen to police scanners

December 10, 2023

An illustrated police scanner radio sends off blue, red and white radio signals. The Northern Star Editorial Board encourages readers to listen to police department radio scanner streams. (Eleanor Gentry | Northern Star)

While it is impossible for citizens to follow along with police officers every day, there are ways to follow what is going on in the community.

Police scanners are the one of ways police officers, dispatchers and other employees stay in contact when out on the job.

Police scanners use radio frequencies to transmit messages between each other and to the department. These frequencies are often unencrypted, meaning anyone who knows what frequencies the local police use can listen to the scanner.

For those without access to physical scanners, there are free websites to access the DeKalb Police Department’s scanner online.

The Northern Star uses and recommends using Broadcastify, though it does not have NIU police. The site uses volunteers who own physical radios that stream the radio frequencies onto the website.

Broadcastify sorts scanner streams by location.

Available to stream on Broadcastify in DeKalb County:

The DeKalb and Kane County Fire Departments
DeKalb City Fire Dispatch
DeKalb County Public Safety
Dekalb/LaSalle Counties Public Safety
Illinois State Police Troops 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Kane, Kendall, Will, Grundy, LaSalle & DeKalb Fire Departments
Northern Illinois Railroads
Rockford Area NOAA Weather Radio KZZ57

The DeKalb County Public Safety channel can be found on Broadcastify.

However, Broadcastify does not have the NIU Police Department’s scanner to stream as of publishing.

The NIU police does have public, unencrypted radio channels, according to Radio Reference

“I’m all about transparency, and this is public access to our radio frequency, you know, like any police department, and you know, there’s no problem with that,” said NIU chief of police Darren Mitchell.

The lack of NIU police on Broadcastify stems from not having a volunteer stream it to the site.

To understand the scanner, listeners need to understand 10-codes. These codes are ways to quickly transmit information to other officers and dispatchers. For instance, one of the most popular codes 10-4 means “understood” or “message received.” A list of 10-codes can be found on the Police Codes website.

For the public, having access to the police scanner is a great way to see what is going on in your community and to stay up to date with police activities.

For journalists, having access to the scanner is paramount to our jobs.

The scanner gives us live updates to crime or emergencies and ensures we have the knowledge to hold the police accountable. Without a police scanner, it would be far more difficult to stay on top of the breaking news and emergencies our readers need to know about.