"When it's 2 a.m. and you hear the (police) helicopter overhead and wonder what's going on, now you have a chance to find out," says George Berz, a local ham radio operator, private pilot and self-described "computer geek and nerd at heart." Berz is streaming the Fresno police scanner live on his Web site, ScanFresno.com.

Berz writes in an e-mail that he built the site to give folks the chance to hear the scanner without having to fuss with a lot of technology -- "no investment in radios and figuring out the antenna issues, programming the darned thing," etc. He wants "to build community awareness about real crimes and situations in Fresno. Not CSI-type stuff -- real, authentic and happening right now," he writes. "The police have to deal with a lot of ($@%#!) on a daily basis and this may make people more appreciative of all the things that they do," he writes. "Let's face it, a lot of people never interact with a police officer and when they do, most are just getting a traffic ticket."

In the first days of the Internet, when BBSes were all the rage, Berz says, he ran Fresno Public Access. "We had 34 dial up lines running in my apartment!" he writes. Later he started up a technology company with a friend and ran that for a few years, he says. All in all, he says he's been in the computer industry for 17+ years.

He writes that he doesn't think this'll give too much aid and comfort to criminals, since anyone can just buy a real police scanner for $40-100 and have more options available. "This is designed for the casual user for a little entertainment or information," he says.