Yes, baofeng radios can potentially be used to monitor police and emergency services if the transmissions are on unencrypted vhf or uhf analog frequencies that fall. However, some frequencies, particularly those used for emergency. To know where to listen for your local police or fire department, you'll need a frequency guide or directory for your locality.
Scanner frequency spectrum database, including police, fire, rescue, racing frequencies, airport, railroad, taxi, amateur radio, ham radio call signs and much more. However, in some states this is against the law and will be treated as a criminal. Police type radio scanners designed to receive these frequencies or bands can be purchased from several sources, new and used with various bells and whistles and are easy to operate.
They are key for public safety, helping law enforcement respond. Known frequencies 0.1 – 21200 mhz (all below are in mhz) submarines and longwave: If that’s you, i would recommend listening to the noaa and national weather service frequencies. When it comes to ham radios, you can listen to the police, but the scanning capabilities for those frequencies are nowhere near as fast and nowhere near as robust as that of a police scanner.
Most people use the ham radio to stay connected during emergencies. These include vhf and uhf frequency ranges. Many amateur radio clubs and the arrl offer these charts for easy printing. Scanner frequency spectrum database, including police, fire, rescue, racing frequencies, airport, railroad, taxi, amateur radio, ham radio call signs and much more.