Compiled by: Frank Terranella, Esq., 106 Cathay Road, Clifton, N.J. 07013

©Copyright 1995, Frank Terranella  

Notice from Grove Enterprises/Monitoring Times

Readers are advised that the material has not been updated since 1995, and local laws may have changed. If you have knowledge of such updates, please contact us at mt@grove-ent.com and we will post verified changes here. 

INDIANA : 

IN ST § 35-44-3-12 

 Section 35-44-3-12:  Unlawful use of a police radio;  exemptions;  "police radio" defined

  (a) A person who knowingly or intentionally:

  (1) possesses a police radio;

  (2) transmits over a frequency assigned for police emergency purposes;  or    (3) possesses or uses a police radio:

    (A) while committing a crime;

    (B) to further the commission of a crime;  or

    (C) to avoid detection by a law enforcement agency;

 commits unlawful use of a police radio, a Class B misdemeanor.

  (b) Subsection (a)(1) and (a)(2) do not apply to:

  (1) a governmental entity;

  (2) a regularly employed law enforcement officer;

  (3) a common carrier of persons for hire whose vehicles are used in emergency service;

  (4) a public service or utility company whose vehicles are used in emergency  service;

  (5) a person who has written permission from the chief executive officer of a law enforcement agency to possess a police radio;

  (6) a person who holds an amateur radio license issued by the Federal  Communications Commission if the person is not transmitting over a frequency assigned for police emergency purposes;

  (7) a person who uses a police radio only in the person's dwelling or place of business;

  (8) a person:

    (A) who is regularly engaged in newsgathering activities;

    (B) who is employed by a newspaper qualified to receive legal advertisements under IC 5-3-1, a wire service, or a licensed commercial or public radio or television station;  and

    (C) whose name is furnished by his employer to the chief executive officer    of a law enforcement agency in the county in which the employer's principal    office is located;

  (9) a person engaged in the business of manufacturing or selling police  radios;  or

  (10) a person who possesses or uses a police radio during the normal course of the person's lawful business.

  (c) As used in this section, "police radio" means a radio that is capable of sending or receiving signals transmitted on frequencies assigned by the Federal Communications Commission for police emergency purposes and that:

  (1) can be installed, maintained, or operated in a vehicle;  or

  (2) can be operated while it is being carried by an individual.

 The term does not include a radio designed for use only in a dwelling.

Comment:

            This law prohibits the mere possession of portable scanners, and lists exemptions.  The statute defines portable scanners to be any radios, capable of receiving police communications, which can be operated in a vehicle.  The statute does not prohibit the possession or use of base scanners.  This law was construed in Wallman v. State, 419 N.E.2d 1346 (1981). The Court found that the section was sufficiently clear and definite to prohibit possession of portable radios capable of receiving vocal police radio communications.  However, the Court found that the statute was too vague to prohibit the possession of a portable radar detection device.