Why it is critical

I had a speaking engagement last week at the Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Group. My topic was discussing the two public safety projects that would be funded by a three year quarter cent sales tax, a proposition that will appear on the ballot April 7 at the City's primary election.

In the process of explaining why the City's aging public safety radio system is so important, I had a sudden epiphany (is there another kind of epiphany?): one of the best ways to understand this is simply to listen. As if on cue, Chamber of Commerce staff member Kyle Fischer pulled out his smartphone and launched his scanner app.

His app was tuned to the official feed published by the City, which consists of the primary police dispatch talk groups, and the fire & rescue tactical talk groups. It's particularly interesting to listen to during the most busy periods of the day, and you get a real feel from doing so about the events that are breaking in the City, and how police officers, firefighters, and dispatchers depend on this system.

The feed is in stereo: police on the left, fire & rescue on the right. I like to use the balance control on my car stereo to emphasize fire & rescue over police a bit, since I've already spent 40 years listening to police radio traffic. I won't entirely mute police, just notch it down to a lower volume--or the reverse if something in catching my interest. There are tons of smartphone apps out there for Internet-published radio feeds (I use 5-0 Radio Pro), or you can listen to it on the web from your desktop or laptop, at broadcastify.com .