Indiana Scanner Law
Burns Indiana Statutes Annotated (1995)
1995 Supplement, p. 54
Offenses Against Public Administration
Interference With Governmental Operations
s. 35-44-3-12 -- Possession of police radios
s. 35-44-3-12. Possession of police radios. -- (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. [IC 35-44-3-12, as added by Acts 1977, P.L. 342, s. 1;
P.L.162-1994, s. 1.]
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Amendments. The 1994 amendment inserted the subsection (a)(1)
designation, deleted "portable" preceding "police radio" in
subsections (a)(1), (b)(5), (b)(7), and (b)(9), added subsections
(a)(2), (a)(3), and (b)(10), making related changes, substituted
"Subsection (a)(1) and (a)(2) do not" for "This section does not" in
the introductory language of subsection (b), added "if the person is
not transmitting over a frequency assigned for police emergency
purposes" in subsection (b)(6), substituted "As used in this section,
`police radio' means a radio capable of sending or receiving" for
"`Portable police radio' means a radio receiving set that is capable
of receiving" in section (c), and made stylistic changes.
Effective Dates. P.L.325-1994, s. 1. July 1, 1994.