Does LAPD have any plans to phase out P25?

dgower said:

It's illegal to watch the news?

Click to expand...

GrandpaFrank said:

With all the new changes going on with regards to encryption, does anyone know if the Los Angeles Police Department has any plans to switch from their current P25 system in the near future? From what I've read, Riverside County will no longer be monitor-able. Did I read that right? What do the people do who want to monitor such frequencies? Is it flat out illegal? Or does in mean spending alot of money to buy a capable scanner?

I am not looking forward to the day when i have to watch the news to find out why an entire city block was taped off for hours.

Thanks

Click to expand...

GrandpaFrank said:

What do the people do who want to monitor such frequencies? Is it flat out illegal? Or does in mean spending alot of money to buy a capable scanner?/QUOTE]

Not directed at you, specifically, but there may be a general confusion between “digital” and “encrypted”. No, it is NOT illegal to monitor any radio signal. Analog, digital OR encrypted. The Communications Act of 1934 gives us that right, to listen to any radio or television signal that is broadcast “over the air”. The problem is not that it is illegal to monitor encrypted transmissions, per se, but it is illegal to manufacture and/or possess a radio that is capable of receiving them. Unless, of course, you are one of those groups, such as law enforcement, etc., and you ARE authorized to use them.

I know many of us WOULD buy a scanner that could decode “encrypted” or “scrambled” signals, even if the scanner costs 3x what a “normal” scanner would. But it’s illegal to make them, therefore possessing one is, obviously, impossible.

Click to expand...