Switch to an unencrypted channel for basic communications among patrol officers and dispatchers will keep the public in the loop.
County Police Radio Will Open Communications
County Police Radio Will Open Communications
County Police Radio Will Open Communications (Brunswick, GA)
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bctrainers
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That article describes what the agencies here have mostly done here in JoCo KS nearly a decade ago.
For one, interoperability. This is a big plus by doing this for PSAP's/officers not on the same system/setup for said radio comms.
Second, it keeps general dispatch open to the public, simply so that people know what's going on. Basic public trust is what that comes down to.
Three, leave the tac, and other private communication talkgroups/channels encrypted. If it's a special operation, or sensitive info being communicated, leave it in the dark. Public doesn't need to know what is going on at X or Y down to a tee. As that sort of stuff can sometimes compromise officer/a person's safety.
All in all, I do applaud Chief Doering for making the decision to open the air on their main dispatch channel.
For one, interoperability. This is a big plus by doing this for PSAP's/officers not on the same system/setup for said radio comms.
Second, it keeps general dispatch open to the public, simply so that people know what's going on. Basic public trust is what that comes down to.
Three, leave the tac, and other private communication talkgroups/channels encrypted. If it's a special operation, or sensitive info being communicated, leave it in the dark. Public doesn't need to know what is going on at X or Y down to a tee. As that sort of stuff can sometimes compromise officer/a person's safety.
All in all, I do applaud Chief Doering for making the decision to open the air on their main dispatch channel.
I do second bctrainers thoughts on allowing a dispatch talk groups to be in the clear. About 3 ½ years ago my region switched to a new P25 system. Police, border service and airport officials, were encrypted automatically.
More recently the major city here in Ontario which is Toronto (Canada’s biggest city) went to a P25 system leaving the PD encrypted. Leaving only local EMS, fire, and provincial police in the clear but not for much longer!
With all that said, I’m a strong believer in leaving dispatch channels unencrypted but having sensitive communications as we know (tactical, detectives) and otherwise encrypted.
Encryption has taken my province by storm about 90% of police forces are using some sort of encryption technology to leave all media, hobbyists and tows mainly in the dark, which has resulted in the heavy reliance of there following their social media accounts. Which is a whole other story within itself.
I am pleased by the chief in Brunswick for making the right call and strengthening public trusts and awareness.
I would like to see some of those changes brought up north
Michael
More recently the major city here in Ontario which is Toronto (Canada’s biggest city) went to a P25 system leaving the PD encrypted. Leaving only local EMS, fire, and provincial police in the clear but not for much longer!
With all that said, I’m a strong believer in leaving dispatch channels unencrypted but having sensitive communications as we know (tactical, detectives) and otherwise encrypted.
Encryption has taken my province by storm about 90% of police forces are using some sort of encryption technology to leave all media, hobbyists and tows mainly in the dark, which has resulted in the heavy reliance of there following their social media accounts. Which is a whole other story within itself.
I am pleased by the chief in Brunswick for making the right call and strengthening public trusts and awareness.
I would like to see some of those changes brought up north
Michael
Mad respect and appreciation to the Chief for this one!.. I wish and hope that one day that our neighbors to the south in FL follow his example, but doubtful. As Jacksonville, FL has all comms for Jacksonville Sheriff's Office encrypted, on both dispatch and tactical channels.
That's great news!. That is a very wise Police Chief, he got it right. Leave the dispatch channels in the clear but have secure channels for the sensitive stuff. His explanation that digital encryption made their radios sound bad on the fringes is kind of really not true but the important thing it appears the media and citizens made their voices heard and the encryption was turned off on dispatch comms.. Since there is no "right" to monitor LE radio traffic, the best way is to contact the Chief of Police, Mayor, City Council, etc to persuade them to turn off the encryption on main dispatch channels / talkgroups but leave ones that contain sensitive radio traffic encrypted.
It's unfortunate that some public safety agencies that say too bad, we are encrypted and that's the way it's going to stay.
It's unfortunate that some public safety agencies that say too bad, we are encrypted and that's the way it's going to stay.
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It's interesting that one of the reasons for making the switch was that they are experiencing a coverage degradation with encryption. From what I can tell, the system they're using is a P25 Phase I system, correct? If so, I think the Chief is misinformed on that point 
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
It's interesting that one of the reasons for making the switch was that they are experiencing a coverage degradation with encryption. From what I can tell, the system they're using is a P25 Phase I system, correct? If so, I think the Chief is misinformed on that point
From my understanding, there were some issues with antennas on subscribers causing degradation. Encryption on P25 does not cause any loss of coverage.
On our 7.14 simulcast we've tested with AES-256 and clear in some marginal coverage spots and there was no measurable difference in DAQ.
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