Police-Scanner.info’s Scanner Blog

This past weekend, I came across a blog on the Los Angeles Times Website that, well, is very sad to say the least. The blog, “the Homicide Report”, lists a running archive of all murders that occurr to-date here in Los Angeles County, CA. WOW! I know that all these murders go on and have even heard many of them over the scanner, but just reading about them is so sad. And it’s not just Los Angeles, it’s happening all over the United States - the senseless killing of another human. This when the murder rate in Los Angeles is supposedly down by almost 50%. Huh? 

+ LATimes: The Homicide Report
This the coroner’s official weekly list, combined with information from law enforcement. Homicides reported in 
previous days are updated here, and archived.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/homicidereport/

+ U.S. Dept. of Justice - Bureau of Crime Statistics
Statistics about - Crime and victims, Drugs and crime, Criminal offenders, The justice system in the United States, Law enforcement, Prosecution and more.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

 
Nobody Pays List Price Anymore, Why Should You!

 Well, unless you live on another planet, you may already know that we here in SoCal are burning up. There are 17 active brush/wildfires raging here in the Southland (see links below) and my scanner has been going crazy with activity. Everything was fine until the fierce Santa Ana winds kicked up on Saturday afternoon. All hell broke loose after that.

Here is a partial list of some of the bigger fires:

+ Malibu Fire - “Canyon IC” (Los Angeles County)
+ Stevenson Ranch Fire - “Magic IC” (Los Angeles County)
+ Grass Valley Fire - Also called the “Slide Fire” (San Bernardino County)
+ Lake Arrowhead Fire (San Bernardino County)
+ Cajon Fire (San Bernardino County)
+ Piru Fire (Ventura County)
+ Santiago Fire (Orange County) 

For those of you here in Southern California, I have included some frequency information below. There are also links to live audio feeds for a couple of the fires above.

————————————————–
INCIDENT FREQUENCY INFORMATION:
————————————————–

+ Stevenson Ranch Fire Communications Plan - (”Magic Incident” or “Magic IC”) - Near Magic Mountain Theme Park

Los Angeles County Fire Frequencies:

470.5125 - Command (”Blue-4″)
153.8300 - Fireground Tactical (”Tac 20″)
159.0900 - Fireground Tactical (”Tac 22″)
154.4000 - Air-to-Ground (”Tac 19″)
470.6625 - Dozer/Crew Net (”Blue 5″)

————————————————– ADDITIONAL SCANNER FREQUENCIES FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRES

119.975 Air to Air
122.925 CSF Secondary
123.975 Air Attack Base
128.475 Or. Co. Air Attack
130.200 Air Tactics 2
135.975 L.A. Co. Air Attack
136.400 Air to Air
151.220 CDF Air/Ground
151.265 CDF Command 2
151.280 CDF Air Tactics 4
151.295 CDF Air Tactics 5
151.340 CDF Command 3
151.355 CDF Command 1
154.265 White 2
154.280 White 1
154.400 Air to Ground
166.5625 South Ops input to 164.9125 link w/415.525
167.950 BLM
168.200 NIFC T2
168.625 Airguard simulcast on 415.55
169.150 Air tactics 2
169.200 Air tactics 3
170.000 US Forest service Air/Ground
415.550 Airguard simulcast on 168.625

+ VIDEO: “C-10 Drop On Arrowhead Fire” - Oct. 22, 2007
A DC-10 Supertanker drops Foscheck on a fire near Lake Arrowhead.
http://video.knbc.com/player/?id=170479

+ PHOTOS: NASA Satellite Photos of Fires in Southern California
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11799 + INFORMATION: Southern California Fire Report (List of all active fires)
http://www.calfires.com/

As many of you already know, I have several relatives and friends in law enforcement; my cousin Joel (LAPD), my brother-in-law John (San Bernardino Co. Sheriff), my cousin’s husband Manual (CA State Corrections), and my future son-in-law Miguel (San Bernardino Co. Sheriff) - to name a few. 

Last week, I emailed my cousin Joel and jokingly told him that I thought I seen him on TV during the clash between LAPD and a crowd at an immigration rally that turned violent - this knowing that that was not his patrol area. He then replied that at the time he was working a fatal crash involving a undercover sheriff’s deputy in North Hollywood. A teen driving under the influence slammed into a van parked on the side of the street. It turns out that the van was part of a L.A. County Sheriff’s Department surveillance operation involving the major crimes unit.  Joel was the first officer to arrive on the scene and after taking the driver into custody, realized that the van’s engine was running. He went over to shut the van off and upon opening the door discovered the fatally injured deputy.

Deputy Raul Gama, a 20-year veteran of the LA Sheriff’s Department and father of four young children was buried today. The funeral mass was held in Chino Hills (SBCO) across the street from the Chino Hill’s Sheriff Station (my brother-in-law’s patrol station) - it’s a small world indeed…

Links of Interest:

+ Sheriff’s Deputy on Stakeout Killed When Car Hits His Vehicle

+ Funeral Held for Fallen L.A. County Deputy (Story & Video)

+ Officer Down Memorial Page - Deputy Sheriff Raul V. Gama

A half-mile wide struck tornado overnight in Greensburg, Kansas (Pop. 1,600+) literally leveling the town. I’m watching the video coming in over CNN & MSNBC and the damage is just devastating. The death count is at seven, but it is unfortunately going to rise. City official says the entire town has been evacuated and that about 90 percent of Greensburg is heavily damaged or destroyed. Read more below:

+ Deadly twister flattens Kansas town
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/05/05/severe.weather/index.html

People looking for friends or family members from Greensburg should call the American Red Cross in Pratt, Kansas, at 620-672-3651, according to Greensburg City Administrator Steve Hewitt.

If you are experiencing severe weather conditions in your local area, see our Severe Weather Scanning page for National Weather Service frequencies, National SKYWARN information, and links to online weather resources. 

+ Severe Weather Scanning Page - Police-Scanner.info
http://www.police-scanner.info/emergency-preparedness/scanner-preparedness/severe-weather-scanning.htm

And more importantly, be prepared! See our emergency preparedness page for more information:

+ Police Scanners & Emergency Preparedness - Police-Scanner.info
http://www.police-scanner.info/emergency-preparedness/ 

PoliceScanners4Less.com

Find the Right Scanner, Right Price, Right Now!

Ah yes…we had another wild televised pursuit here in Los Angeles County. LAPD chased this nut in a stolen car around the city for almost two hours. Most of the time it was a slow-speed chase, but it did get wild at time as he rode around on rims because of being “spike-stripped”. As usual, we had a choice of TV channels to watch including; KCBS-2, KABC-7, KCAL-9, and KTTV-11. I watched the pursuit, often switching channels, with the volume muted while listening to the play-by-play on my scanner over LAPD’s Citywide TAC-3 frequency. Check out the links below for the complete story and video:

• CBS2 News: “Police Nab Half-Naked Suspect After Chase Downtown“

While on the subject of police pursuits, I previously mentioned in the current audio recording that Los Angeles is the pursuit capital of the world. On average we get 1-2 or more televised pursuits per week - and that’s just televised pursuits. In reality, there are dozen’s of pursuits that take place throughout Los Angeles County on any given day.

Here are some police pursuit stats:

• In 2001, there were 781 chases in Los Angeles-more than in any other city in the nation. Dallas, for instance, had 424. (Webmaster’s Note: If you include all areas of Los Angeles County, the number of pursuits is probably around 2,000+!)
• One of five chases typically ends in a crash.
• In 2001 alone, 365 people died nationwide, including 140 who were not in a police car or the vehicle being chased.
• More than 3,000 people have been killed in police pursuits in the past decade, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Source: US World News Article: “And the Chase Is Off“

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So much for updating this blog every couple of days…

Sorry. I’m trying to get used to remembering that I run this blog now. I’m still trying to catch up on updating the audio page on PSI. I been busy with PoliceScanners4Less, trying to get that site running smoothly. It’s just me running all three sites and being a single father with three teenage daughters does not help…  

Anyway, I’ve decided to delay the audio update on PSI until May 1st. I’ll keep you posted.

Items of Interest: 

In all my years of listening to police and fire communications, there have been several occasions where I have heard a call involving a family member or friend - fotunately nothing serious. This one has got to be one of the worst things to hear on a scanner - a mother hears a fatal accident over the scanner involving her son:

+ “Four teens are killed in Leicester car crash”
http://shorterlink.com/?GXE1D2

Regarding the tragic shootings at Virgina Tech last week, some students learned there was a gunman on the loose over a police scanner that someone had before the school put out warnings:
 
+ “Killen resident on Tech campus during shooting”
http://shorterlink.com/?K7Z6MK

And finally, an amendment to Michigan state law MCL750.508 regarding mobile scanner use. The amendment removes the penalty for having a scanner equipped in a vehicle, but making it illegal to commit a crime while in possession of a scanner. According to the ECPA of 1986, it is already illegal to use a scanner to commit a crime. This bill establish enhanced criminal penalties for a person who uses a scanner in the commission of a crime. 

+ “2005 House Bill 4544 (Enhanced penalty if police scanner used in crime)”
http://www.michiganvotes.org/2005-HB-4544

More information and resources on scanner laws can be found at:

+ Police Scanners & the Law
http://www.police-scanner.info/scanning/police-scanner-laws.htm

That’s it for now, type to you soon. As always, stay safe and happy scanning!

-RF

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Hello everyone! Welcome to Police-Scanner.info’s Scanner Blog! I am Ruben Flores, Police-Scanner.info’s Webmaster. Here is where I will regularly post articles, news, and other police scanner-related information and topics - even my own rants. I hope to update this page every few days or as events dictates.

In other stuff, I just got my first digital scanner, the BCD396T, a couple of weeks ago and must say I very happy with the scanner, but not too fond of digital radio transmissions. Digital is supposed to be crisp and clear. I personally do not think so. I have been recording some digital scanner audio files and will put them up this weekend so you can hear for yourself.

Below are a couple of interesting articles I recently found:

+ “Crash biker had drugs in undies, helmet scanner“

+ “Sound of scanner yields pot, $30,000“

This one was not scanner-related, but was an interesting read:

+ “Dozens Arrested For Posing As Police“

and don’t forget to visit our official scanner sales site for great deals on police scanners: 

PoliceScanners4Less.com

Well, that’s all for now - type to you in a couple of days…