Cherry, several years ago a friend gave me a scanner when I was stuck at home with a broken leg. That is how I discovered underground ham radio. I was scanning away and all I heard were the police. When I listened to the cellphone frequencies, I heard the drug deals going down. I got hooked on scanners.
Now, LAPD and many of the police depts in local cities have gone digital. You can still modify your scanners so you can pick up all your favorite hot spots, but you have to spend some money buying the newer more expensive equipment.
Late at night when I can't sleep, it's either Art Bell or scanners that put me to sleep.