[Jeffhs]

That Hallicrafters receiver should serve you well for local listening to ambulance services, police and fire, taxicabs, etc. that haven't yet made the switch to 800-MHz trunked systems (as may well be the case in very small towns miles away from major cities). The usual advice regarding recapping where necessary (starting with the power supply caps, as in a radio of this vintage they are either already defective or getting there), bringing up the set slowly on a Variac or with a common light bulb in series with the line cord, etc. applies here, in addition to cleaning the controls with a shot of Deoxit. The OP mentioned (and his photo of the receiver shows) that the receiver's knobs are missing; I'd look at Mike Koste's "Gobs of Knobs" in Ambler, Pennsylvania to find proper replacements for them. (I did a Google search for "Gobs of Knobs" and did find several businesses by that name, but there was no web site mentioned for Mr. Koste's firm of the same name; the only URL attached to the listing actually mentioning his company took me to a Google listing for next year's annual radio swap meet at Kutztown.)

This Hallicrafters receiver will need a good cabinet cleaning as the set looks filthy, at least from the photo the OP attached. The dial cover looks filthy as well. I'd try cleaning it with dishwashing detergent, but nothing stronger, as some cleaners have been known to soften and even destroy plastics.

The line cord should be replaced if it shows signs of dry rotting; it may not be a bad idea to look under the chassis as well for crumbling or deteriorated wiring. I'm not necessarily saying that you will need to rewire the set from the ground up, but any radio this old could well have, at very least, a dry-rotted line cord, which as we all know is a safety hazard. I see radios and TVs up for auction on eBay from time to time that have not been tested (some being sold "for parts only") simply because the line cords were shot, and the owners were afraid to plug them in for fear of being shocked or worse.