Both are always on. There's no entertainment like someone else's troubles, especially if you happen to know the person. I like all the excitement that goes on. When she's sitting on her porch in the summer, she moves her scanner to the window. There are many types of listeners in small towns.
Parents tune in to keep track of wayward teens.
Shut-ins take comfort in cops' voices. Officers can't say how many Northern Kentuckians have scanners. But they see the radios all the time, which can be unnerving. Other times, it's helpful. People who listen to scanners will hear us trying to find a location.