Wear an ear mic

Wearing an ear mic not only ensures you get your radio traffic, it also eliminates the need to "secure your mic" while standing with a potential suspect. Criminals are just as knowledgeable -- sometimes more so -- about our codes and police jargon than we are. Allowing a subject to overhear the radio traffic while you are dealing with him/her on the street could potentially cause the otherwise calm subject to become a threat.