Build This Digital Police Scanner to Listen in to the Hot Chatter

In the past, police officers would communicate with each other and dispatch through unencrypted analog radios. Anyone could listen in and doing so was a hobby for some. But today, police use more complicated digital radio systems and listening in is more of a challenge. This guide from MostlyBuilds will show you how to put together a police scanner to listen to those communications.

Before you build anything, you might want to do a quick search to see if there is a website or app that publishes audio streams of police communications in your area. There is a good chance that is available, in which case you won’t need to buy any hardware.

But if you that isn’t an option or you just like the idea of intercepting radio transmissions directly, this video is for you. By watching it, you’ll learn how to pair a ZimaBoard 2 single-board computer with an RTL-SDR V3 software-defined radio module. The latter picks up radio transmissions and the former lets you run software to decode them.

The video describes how to use OP25, which is open-source software created to decode the APCO Project 25 communications standard used by police in the US, Canada, Australia and other countries. You’ll be able to hear the police chatter, record it, and even stream it on your home network, so you never miss out on any action.

However, it is important to note that APCO Project 25 does support encryption and you won’t be able to break that with OP25. If you want to listen in to an encrypted channel, then you’re out of luck.