Scanner Radio
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Los Angeles County covers more than 4,000 square miles and is home to nearly 10 million people. Between LAPD, the LA County Sheriff's Department, LAFD, LA County Fire, and smaller city agencies like Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Pasadena PD, LA's scanner traffic is among the busiest you'll find anywhere in the U.S.
Whether you want to follow brush fires in the hills, pursuits across the Valley, or just stay aware of what's happening in your LA neighborhood, tuning in is something you can do from your phone in under a minute.
The easiest way to start is with the Scanner Radio app. Open it and search "Los Angeles." You'll see dozens of feeds covering LAPD's 21 divisions, LA County Sheriff stations, LAFD, LA County Fire, CHP, and smaller municipal departments across the metro. Tap any of them to start listening live. One of the most popular feeds is Los Angeles City Fire, which carries live LAFD dispatch around the clock.
LAPD is split into four geographic bureaus (Central, South, Valley, and West), so you can zero in on the area you care about. Valley residents usually pick Van Nuys or North Hollywood. For downtown or Hollywood, tune into Central or Hollywood Division. Westside listeners pick Pacific, West LA, or Wilshire.
LAPD is the third-largest municipal police force in the U.S. Popular feeds include Hollywood, Central (downtown and Skid Row), Rampart (Koreatown), 77th Street (South LA), and Harbor (San Pedro).
LA County Sheriff's Department covers unincorporated areas plus more than 40 contract cities, including West Hollywood, Compton, Lancaster, and Malibu.
LAFD runs more than 100 stations across the city, while LA County Fire leads brush-fire response across the Angeles National Forest and the Santa Monica Mountains.
Vehicle pursuits across LA's freeways and surface streets are practically a local tradition, and they unfold on scanner long before any news helicopter is overhead. During fire season, LAFD and LA County Fire feeds get busy fast. You'll hear engine companies assigned to strike teams, water drops coordinated, and evacuation zones called out in real time.
LA radio traffic moves quickly, so give yourself a few sessions to pick up the rhythm.
Star your favorite divisions so you can jump between them quickly. Scanner Radio also notifies you when a feed sees a sudden spike in listeners, often the earliest sign that something major is unfolding, sometimes before it hits the news.
Open Scanner Radio, search "Los Angeles," and pick a feed. Within seconds you'll be hearing LA's police, fire, and EMS dispatchers in real time, the same radio traffic their officers, firefighters, and paramedics are hearing right now.