Ever wonder what is happening when you see police or other activity in your Amherst neighborhood? Or where you work? There is a lack of local news in Amherst, MA. And certainly the official police blotter leaves out a LOT of information and is not real-time.

AmherstScanner transcribes real-time, publicly-available radio communication data that is gathered via multiple public and published frequencies and puts it in writing so that the citizens of Amherst and surrounding areas (Hadley, Belchertown, Sunderland, Pelham, South Hadley) can keep up with what is happening in town…in near real-time. It is essentially the Amherst Police Scanner, Amherst Fire Department Scanner, and, for those who really want to know, the Amherst Department of Public Works Scanner (pothole, anyone?).  AI does the transcription, so sometimes it is not accurate and even laughable.

Data is published about 15 minutes after transmission of original voice data.

Readers can contact us with any questions or suggestions for the site.

We would like to charge a small monthly fee to simply offset the cost of electricity, but we are not there yet. For now, we are using Amazon links to earn some coffee money.

Disclaimer: Transcriptions are certainly not 100% accurate.

Hot off the air

___ Dispatch to 30. Go ahead. 30, respond to 81 Belchertown Road, Colonial Village, apartment number 25 for a report on a larceny. You’re going to be meeting with Ms. Fiore, who is upset because she believes that Mr. McDonald, who was in her apartment, stole her apartment key and mailbox key after saying he was leaving to go to Northampton. She would like to speak to an officer. ___ Code expression. Code. Safety and values are all set. I’m clear. Review. ___ X1, dispatch. I’m tired, X1. You can put me on Pine Street. Received.

Date picker

January 2026
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Abbreviations

  1. RP = Reporting Party
  2. BOLO = Be On the LookOut
  3. CAD = Computer-Aided Dispatch