There is no specific answer because every state has different laws regarding procedures and then every individual agency has its own different rules, SOP's, training and even culture.
So nobody but someone familiar with that specific agency can tell you for sure.
For some general stuff- if by "ham radio" you mean a handheld radio, officers do in fact use them. Most places have both handheld radios and car mounted radios because it takes a really good radio system to work only on handhelds with smaller antennas and less power. However some agencies in urban areas with really good radio systems in fact only issue handheld radios and have mounts in the car that they nest in when driving.
But even with a vehicle mounted radio you need to hold the microphone with your hand.
He may have been using a phone. Most departments don't issue cellphones so officers don't give numbers to the public to call direct because that's a good way to end up harassed and prank called on your private cell number (but as an aside, departments should be issuing smart phone to every officer so they can have a work phone with a number they can give to the public. The ability to call or text a specific trusted officer helps build good relations and trust). But they will get calls and texts from dispatchers- often they will call or text them details they don't want given over the air if it's something sensitive. For example we had a policy of not dispatching a sexual assault call over the air but doing it via callphone/text because you don't want everyone with a scanner hearing that someone at XXX address was just raped and violating that persons privacy on such a sensitive matter. We also used text for when we were responding to things like a call where EMS needed to get into a home where a person was locked in and needed help and there was a key hidden- they texted the key location to keep it off the air. Or gate codes to gated communities. Or pictures of suspects.
And if we were dealing with people known to keep scanners on to try and stay a step ahead of us the dispatchers would not put anything on the air but just call us or ask us to call them. And sometimes even after they sent us to that place dispatch a dummy call so people listening to scanners thought we were busy elsewhere.
And now the newer digital radio systems actually allow dispatchers and officers to text message back and forth using the handheld radios.
Now as far as off the books, at every place I every worked even back in the 90's every phone line into and out of the dispatch center was recorded. And work related calls to dispatchers cell phones were a durable offense. And those recordings are all public record anyone can request a copy of via a FOIA request, so if you really wanted to you could ask for all the call and radio recordings and dispatch logs for the time period of what you observed and see exactly what was up.
If you want to get a good view and idea of what your local agencies are doing a scanner is a wise investment for anyone who wants to be aware and provide a bit of community oversight into what's happening. Just get someone who is familiar enough with how the systems work to recommend the right kind for your area.
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