Thornton pd goes encrypted?

As a Thornton resident this is sad news, hopefully the rest of the system doesn't follow.

This is not a rant but this post can be deleted since it violates the rule.

Your post does not violate the rules at all. The only rule that exists is dealing with negative posts regarding encryption and audio streaming. It is perfectly fine to make a post letting others know or ask about encryption.

Some units started flipping to Zone J on their radios as early as 07:17 on 04/10/2017. Dispatch officially made the switch at 07:25 (audio courtesy of RadioCapture.com), and that was the last of Thornton PD.

Seeing that no one can actually listen to Thornton PD anymore, here is something of minor interest. TG 4173, which was formerly marked in the database as Adams County IT, appears to be Thornton PD's new TG for Data. It began being used as early as 04/04/2017. It seems to be the only new TG assignment, possibly used to test encryption without breaking the existing setup. Not sure if they have any plans for their old TG 4128.

Unfortunately the general trend of encryption tends to indicate that more will follow.

Ahh thank you for some kind of closure? I guess. I wondered if there was some kind of announcement like that. I am new to scanners and started reprogramming mine in a panic when I couldn't hear them anymore then noticed all the E's on the reference page.

It is still pretty cool that trunking allows the other cities talkgroups to still work at least. I have switched to adams county sherrif which will have to do for now.

Would you be willing to talk about this for a story in the Northglenn/Thornton Sentinel newspaper? I am looking for local reaction -- and knowledgeable public reaction -- to the conversion. Please let me know...

Encrypt Counties/Cities

Where can I go on RR and see all the counties/cities in Colorado that are encrypt at this time? I need to update my scanners.

ColorMeOrange said:

I am looking for local reaction -- and knowledgeable public reaction -- to the conversion.

Click to expand...

Situations like this go in a cycle. An agency makes this change. People in the scanning community react to it and nothing will change in regards to the agency making a decision to do this.

The major area media appears to have made no real effort for access. Quite evident in recent moves by major cities in the metro area doing this as well. (i.e. Lakeood & Aurora)

One notices less coverage of events in agencies that have gone this direction unless a fire agency is involved or a PIO releases information.

I would suggest contacting the TPD chief, City manager and Mayor about their decision.

Spirit said:

Where can I go on RR and see all the counties/cities in Colorado that are encrypt at this time? I need to update my scanners.

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There's a list here Encrypted Agencies - The RadioReference Wiki

Otherwise if you are looking at one of the trunked systems there will be an E in the mode column under talkgroups like on this page https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=7768

Miss the good old days.....sigh......

I remember when I used to live there and would listen to their dispatch channel on 460.275.. gosh I miss those days....

scanlist said:

Situations like this go in a cycle. An agency makes this change. People in the scanning community react to it and nothing will change in regards to the agency making a decision to do this.

The major area media appears to have made no real effort for access. Quite evident in recent moves by major cities in the metro area doing this as well. (i.e. Lakeood & Aurora)

One notices less coverage of events in agencies that have gone this direction unless a fire agency is involved or a PIO releases information.

Click to expand...

Media in Colorado has shifted away from trying to get stories themselves to relying on people telling them what is happening. I guess they just see all the encryption as part of the change.

All media in Colorado rely heavily on PIO information. They rarely send crews to a scene or get information themselves if it is not in the immediate area. It is very easy to see that most of the content comes from either the PIO or social media. Why do the work when everyone else can do it for you?

If the PIO does not or will not provide information regarding an incident, then it effectively never happened in the eyes of the media. This is probably the scariest thing with all this, but the media seems to be content with the situation.

Colorado doesn't seem have a big market for breaking news. By the time Colorado media talks about breaking news, you can be guaranteed that the event has been ongoing for a couple of hours or has already concluded. On the other hand, they have no problem with live helicopter footage of a police pursuit 800 miles away in California because their sister stations are more on top of things.

Thornton PD goes dark

News | Northglenn Colorado | Northglenn-thorntonsentinel.com

A few points:

“He was listening to us as we came into the area and knew right where we were,” Avila said. “When get got just past him enough, he knew where to run to get away. Now, had it been a hostile encounter, he could have jumped up behind us with a gun.”

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If a criminal wants to attack Police Officers, a scanner is not an essential tool. They can simply call in a false report of a crime in progress and then lie in wait until responding Officers show up.

Further, if the Officers had been using a Tac channel (which should absolutely be encrypted by all departments) then Avila and his partner wouldn't have given away their activities to the suspect.

Avila said police also have to read personal information over the radios.

“If I pull you over, I’m going to give your name, your date of birth,” Avila said. “If I’m a bad guy and I’m listening I have that information, too. That’s truly all he needs. Before my traffic stop is done, they can be making credit cards in your name.”

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Police don't "have" to read this info over the radio. I would imagine that Thornton has MDTs. If they don't, or the MDT goes down, then that's where a separate channel (that should be encrypted) can be used. Or Cell Phones.

ShyFlyer said:

A few points:



If a criminal wants to attack Police Officers, a scanner is not an essential tool. They can simply call in a false report of a crime in progress and then lie in wait until responding Officers show up.

Further, if the Officers had been using a Tac channel (which should absolutely be encrypted by all departments) then Avila and his partner wouldn't have given away their activities to the suspect.



Police don't "have" to read this info over the radio. I would imagine that Thornton has MDTs. If they don't, or the MDT goes down, then that's where a separate channel (that should be encrypted) can be used. Or Cell Phones.

Click to expand...

The cops story seems made up to me unless the thieves had stolen the scanner too. There also are entire lists of people in jail for many counties across the country that list names and dates of birth. I doubt anyone is monitoring the police scanner to make fake credit cards from criminals identities.

And finally the author of the article seems misinformed on the price of scanner needed to scan an apco 25 trunked system. Sub $100? made by who?

I'm not inclined to think that the Officer or anyone else "made up" the story. It does seem that he truly feels, at least to me, that a fully encrypted radio system increases his safety. Officer Safety training/tactics/techniques don't change one bit just because you have encrypted radios.

Criminals, although they can be quite crafty, generally aren't the most brightest tools in the shed. Modern scanners are likely too frustrating for the vast majority of them to use and program.


As for the scanner price, one could probably find one for under $100 if it's used.