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The primary issue is antenna limitations on the walkie-talkies. The stock "rubber duck" antenna on most FRS, GMRS and CB handhelds is not suited to long range communication. Those antennas have zero or even negative gain on an RF signal and are designed to present a good RF match to the transmitter section of the talkie. For long distance communication with low power talkies you need "gain" antennas but there are restrictions on the FRS and GMRS services that preclude enhancements to the antenna system on the talkie. A CB handheld is limited by FCC regulations to 4 watts of Amplitude modulated RF and by its nature is normally a short range communications mode but you can add an external antenna that would increase your range but likely not to 10 miles.

Amateur radio offers a lot of flexibility on antenna systems, the amount RF power allowed,the modes of operation, the frequencies that can be used and the choices of equipment.

A few years back there was a group of kids on a field trip to Abrams Falls in the Great Smoky Mountain NP. The terrain down at the falls is steep except for following the trail along the creek. While the kids were there a boy fell in the water below the falls and drowned. One of the kids had brought his handheld HAM Radio and he was able to hit a repeater and summon the Park Rangers. Otherwise someone would have had to walked two miles back to the parking area.

That band spectrum is VHF at about 164 MHZ IIRC. VHF at that frequency and below can work considerable distance even with a hand held. My last employer had a business radio in the 150's MGH range and a base unit at the building. I could talk across town back to base on the handheld. With my antenna farm and scanners I could sometimes hear the base unit 20 miles away when I was home.

I've also heard 154-159 MHZ Police Comms as far away as Indiana and I'm in East Tennessee. If a person simply wants to monitor Police, Fire, Ambulance, Rescue, HAM, Air, USCG, the power company, wreckers, drive through windows, GMRS, Mall Security, Hospitals, and business radio with one radio then a Police Police Scanner is the right choice. But you need to see it you need to determine what type radio system is used in your area. It is 800MHZ with analog voice a Trunk Tracker will work. In more rural areas the Law Enforcement usually uses either the 150's or 460 MHZ Spectrum in the clear. You will not pick up Feds on one generally though. Most agencies except maybe BLM have gone digital.

You can turn a discarded old Outdoor TV antenna into a scanner antenna fairly easy. But the Rubber Duck antenna they come with will get most local agencies.