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It has been a while now since the Boston Marathon bombings happened, which has led to the increasing popularity of police scanner websites. At the time of the tragedy, a lot of people all over the country monitored Boston police scanner websites to gather information. They were also trying to listen for news about their loved ones who participated in the marathon or living near the area.
It is a simple process to find these websites. Just go to either Broadcastify or Radio Reference online, and then search through their database for the ones that offer the chatter from the Boston area.
Today, there is a lot of debate going on regarding the use of a Boston police scanner feed and about police scanner websites in general. Essentially, much of the debate is about how criminals can profit from a police scanner Boston MA website, while on the other hand a Boston police scanner online can lead to greater transparency and more accurate media reporting.
Benefits of Police Scanner Websites
Boston is a very large city and its crime rates are quite high compared to the rest of the US.
- There are 0.09 murders per 1000 residents, compared to the 0.05 average.
- There were 0.40 rapes compared to the 0.27 national average.
- There were 3.05 robberies compared to the 1.13 national average.
- There were 4.86 assaults compared to the 2.42 national average.
According to the crime index, Boston is in the top 15% most dangerous cities in the country. Part of the reason for that is because there are so many schools in the area, and campus crimes such as sexual assault are becoming much more prevalent—and underreported.
By listening to the Boston police scanner feed websites, you can do your part by avoiding these areas during so that you don’t add to the confusion. As a trained emergency serviced personnel, these websites can also tell you where to go even if you are off-duty.
Journalists can also monitor these websites so that they can gather accurate information that they will include in their reports. These websites allow police to operate with more transparency, so that accusations of cover-ups and incompetence can be avoided.
The use of these websites can really peak during these times. Broadcastify, which offers feeds on its websites, actually had 180,000 listeners at one point.
The Liabilities of Police Scanner Websites
There is a definite downside to these police scanner websites. For one, criminals can listen to them too. That’s one of the reasons why Broadcastify actually took their Boston PD police scanner feeds offline at some point during the manhunt for the suspects.
Some criminals have benefited from these websites and that’s the reason why Phoenix nowadays encrypts its law enforcement communications. This was the direct result of one case in which the criminal was able to flee after the street address was broadcasted and the journalists were able to arrive at the scene before the SWAT team did.
In any case, the debate still rages on, so you may as well enjoy the privilege while you still can and use the information you get to help protect yourself, your loved ones and those in your community.