A web-based scanner that allows listeners to monitor law enforcement and other dispatches has been shut down in Nye County.
Described as the “world’s largest source for public safety information,” the Broadcastify Internet Live Audio Feed airs police and fire department radio traffic between first responders and dispatchers to untold listeners.
The scanner service was suspended late last month in Nye County, much to the disappointment of its regular listeners.
Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill told the Pahrump Valley Times that criminal suspects and others were eavesdropping to monitor the activities of law enforcement.
“We made the decision based on the fact that they were actively listening to our operations at the time,” McGill said. “Needless to say, that can be a very potentially, even life-threatening situation, because they know our plans and they know our movements. They also knew what we were going to do and when we were going do it, so I made the decision that we were no longer going to broadcast that.”
Federal communications laws don’t prohibitscanners and it remains legal to listen to police traffic and other dispatches that are transmitted. Scanners have long been popular in newsrooms to help reporters follow the actions of police in real-time but access to transmissions have become more difficult in the past decades.
Additionally, aircraft, rail and live marine radio streams across the country are aired by Broadcastify.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes