Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

Scanner listening is an increasingly popular hobby where citizens enjoy listening to the activities of law enforcement, emergency medical, fire and other public service professionals. Scanners can also listen in on a wide variety of commercial, industrial, civil and amateur ("ham radio") transmissions.

   Frequencies used by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
   Ten Signals used by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
   Phonetic Alphabet used by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
   Disposition Codes used by Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Deputies

General Information for Scanner Listeners:

The financial investment required to start the hobby may be relatively modest; VHF/UHF scanner radios can sometimes be purchased for as little as $100; used units in excellent working condition may occasionally be found at bargain prices. Electronics retailers often stock not only the equipment needed for this hobby, but also books and magazines with all the information a first-time scanner buyer would need.

Deputy Sheriffs and other public service professionals are well aware that their conversations may be monitored by almost anybody. While some criminals listen to police transmissions to assist them in their illegal activities, the vast majority of scanner listeners are honest, law-abiding citizens. It is more common for scanner listeners to help the police, rather than attempt to evade the police.

Florida has a law (F.S. 843.16) prohibiting police frequency reception on scanners mounted in motor vehicles with exceptions written into the law for news reporters, FCC licensed Amateur Radio Operators, emergency vehicles, and Crime Watch vehicles. This law is aimed at those who would use scanners to evade the law.

Contrary to popular opinion, "Codes" and "Signals" are not employed primarily for reasons of confidentiality. Their primary value is for brevity and clarity. It is usually fairly simple for experienced listeners to decipher most of the codes and signals. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office no longer uses dispatch codes: a "plain language" system has been adopted instead. Therefore, Deputies on the radio will speak of a "Traffic Crash" instead of a "Signal Four", and and "Alarm Activation" instead of a "Signal 29." When confidential communications are required, "scrambling" is employed...or the conversations held on a "landline" telephone. If you hear unintelligible noises on your scanner, you may have intercepted either some type of data transmission (digital or alphanumeric pagers, fax machines, etc.), or scrambled voice communications. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office does not scramble routine communications. Undercover drug personnel and others involved in sensitive investigations do use scrambled communications when necessary.

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Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
1250 North Eglin Parkway
Shalimar, FL 32579
(850) 651-7410