They get their crime intelligence by reading news accounts and police blotters and by monitoring police scanner traffic.

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On the police scanner in the aftermath of the attack, first responders discussed grounding a helicopter because it needed to refuel.

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In the car between calls, the nurses prepare for the next patient while a police scanner drones on in the background.

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"All right, we're gonna go forward with the burn ... like we talked about, " said a voice on a local police scanner frequency.

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He also had a police scanner and told CBS the inspiration for Twitter came from listening to the short bursts of chatter from the city's emergency dispatch center.

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The Martins are Democratic Party activists who happen to keep a police radio scanner and a tape recorder in their car.

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New Zealand's Industrial Research looks to be attracting quite a bit of interest in its prototype handheld 3D scanner, snagging fellow New Zealanders Weta Digital to help put the technology through its paces and now hoping the police will hop on board to put the scanner to more grisly uses.

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It also contains a barcode scanner, so that, for example, warehouse managers can use it for inventory and police officers can use it to scan license plates while on the go.

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