Police comms can feel fake when the squelch timing, noise bed, or voice bandwidth does not match the scene. Use the tips below to choose the right clip from the library or write a prompt that produces the cadence, urgency, and clarity you need, whether it is a clean dispatch read, a garbled scanner hit, or a tense pursuit update.
Decide what the listener should understand
Start by choosing intelligible vs low-intelligibility chatter. If the story needs specific info, request clearer words and less masking hiss. If it is just atmosphere, ask for vague callouts and let the noise bed carry it.
- For plot: ask for clear unit ID plus one location cue
- For ambience: ask for indistinct voices and minimal readable words
- For continuity: keep a consistent noise bed across cuts
Call out the radio mechanics in your prompt
The most believable clips include a quick squelch open, a gated voice, and a squelch close. You can also request an attention tone before speech. These micro-events help the clip read as a transmission, not a phone line.
- Specify squelch at start and end, or intermittent pops for busy traffic
- Ask for band-limited voice, mid-forward, with light compression
- Add an attention tone when you want a dispatch moment to stand out
Match perspective: handheld, cruiser, or scanner-in-room
Perspective changes the transient and tail. A handheld feels tight and direct. A cruiser speaker can feel slightly wider or harsher. A scanner heard across a room should be quieter with a softer attack and more smeared static.
- Handheld: tight gating, narrow width, crisp squelch release
- Cruiser console: slightly louder midrange, more aggressive texture
- Across-room scanner: softer transients, lower clarity, wider noise
Avoid common fake-sounding choices
Overly clean voice, no squelch, or constant full-volume static often breaks realism. Keep peaks controlled and leave headroom so you can duck under dialogue. If the chatter fights your mix, reduce intelligibility or shorten the tail.
- Do not use hi-fi full-range voice for a radio transmission
- Avoid nonstop loud static that masks everything in the scene
- Skip long reverb tails unless the radio is clearly in a reflective room
