Johnson county set on encryption following Linn county

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ISW376

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Went to a JECC policy board meeting yesterday after hearing from local chiefs set on encrypting all law enforcement talkgroups including dispatch and possibly all event channels. The chiefs are blaming radio reference live feed even though their is a delay they also are blaming a am radio station that I was unaware of that on Friday nights broadcast law dispatch channels. I attempted to change minds with no success the JECC members all agree to encrypt law 1 and 3 do to officer safety how ever I feel they were not good enough to support encryption.

When I brought up cedar rapids having their dispatch channel open I
Was told they along with Linn county. Will be encrypting all law talkgroups by the end of July.

Black hawk county will also be using full law enforcement encryption as well.

I brought up a lot of examples not to encrypt one reason including the shooting of 2 Des Moines officers being shot and the Des Moines pd screaming over the radio stating any citizens monitoring on a scanner please call 911 if you have any info. Apparently our county didn't care so if this happens here good luck on the public's help our county does not see a significant use of public help I do not feel they cared or listened to a word I said.

Their will be another meeting but if it's just me again nothing will happen more citizens will need to show support besides just me!

the only good examples. They had was live feeds and a local radio station. Everyone on here who says live streaming isn't what is killing clear skies is fooling them selves as every chief in the room knows about it and is basing a decision on it.
 

K0JWW

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Johnson County using my feed as an excuse is EXTREMELY flimsy. I intend to e-mail the JECC Board and Police Chiefs sometime today myself to indicate this is an extremely bad policy idea. Only Law 1 and Law 3 are the two groups on that one. Their event channels are on there, but Broadcastify policy allows that.

If they start threatening me to take down the feed or anything like that, I'll then make sure to pass that along to Broadcastify.

As for the radio station, what radio station are you talking about? There is one on AM Broadcast Radio?

Even if the change were to be implemented, I would still have the Johnson County Fire Talkgroups.

You are correct about the fact that with all traffic on Broadcastify Feeds, there is a delay so each feed is not rebroadcasting the feed in real time. Also, there are policies against channels like car-to-car, tactical, investigative, narcotics and tactical teams to name a few. Dispatch is just the routine traffic that puts out the calls and event channels coordinate police, fire, ambulance for an event. Johnson County has plenty of encrypted event channels to use, so their argument becomes more suspect.

I am very disappointed and it hinders the very concept and spirit of interoperability to pull a stunt like this. Law enforcement from other agencies (State Patrol is one example) where officers, deputies, troopers have their own scanner to listen in on local agencies. By encrypting these channels, they lose this advantage. They also lock out people who may be helpful to them.

Accountability for police has been an issue with several high profile police shootings. This sort of action would only add to the mistrust between some segments of the population and law enforcement.



Went to a JECC policy board meeting yesterday after hearing from local chiefs set on encrypting all law enforcement talkgroups including dispatch and possibly all event channels. The chiefs are blaming radio reference live feed even though their is a delay they also are blaming a am radio station that I was unaware of that on Friday nights broadcast law dispatch channels. I attempted to change minds with no success the JECC members all agree to encrypt law 1 and 3 do to officer safety how ever I feel they were not good enough to support encryption.

When I brought up cedar rapids having their dispatch channel open I
Was told they along with Linn county. Will be encrypting all law talkgroups by the end of July.

Black hawk county will also be using full law enforcement encryption as well.

I brought up a lot of examples not to encrypt one reason including the shooting of 2 Des Moines officers being shot and the Des Moines pd screaming over the radio stating any citizens monitoring on a scanner please call 911 if you have any info. Apparently our county didn't care so if this happens here good luck on the public's help our county does not see a significant use of public help I do not feel they cared or listened to a word I said.

Their will be another meeting but if it's just me again nothing will happen more citizens will need to show support besides just me!

the only good examples. They had was live feeds and a local radio station. Everyone on here who says live streaming isn't what is killing clear skies is fooling them selves as every chief in the room knows about it and is basing a decision on it.
 

urdumb

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The troopers and any other LE agency that monitor law 1 and 3 do so from radios that the JECC and/or Linn County gave them. They don't use scanners.
 

ISW376

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False maybe in the future but state can only communicate via vlaw31 an point 2 point with our county unless patched from Lea to an event ch. On ISP base ch I have heard troopers asking their dispatch to confirm what they have heard via scanner. All troopers monitor local counties on scanners. In the future they may get radios but currently only a few have radios!
 

urdumb

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False maybe in the future but state can only communicate via vlaw31 an point 2 point with our county unless patched from Lea to an event ch. On ISP base ch I have heard troopers asking their dispatch to confirm what they have heard via scanner. All troopers monitor local counties on scanners. In the future they may get radios but currently only a few have radios!

mmmmmmk.....
 

K0JWW

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Story to be done on KCRG

I was contacted about the channel changes by a reporter from KCRG. I'll be doing an interview for a story about the issue. I figured I had to stand up since they were using my feed as a excuse. I don't have anything against encryption for sensitive communications, but they want to encrypt even routine traffic. Also, I would think of contacting elected officials in both counties if you disagree with this. I remember they tried to implement this change in Rochester, MN....but it took someone to speak up before they finally back down. A few people speaking up may get them to take a second look at this. It is a possibility.
 

Ensnared

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Waco: Twin Peaks

I am always bothered by the mindless rhetoric given by "some" law enforcement officials attempting to justify the encryption of almost all talk groups. You can look to Ft. Worth, Texas as a fine example of this mindless behavior.

During the roughly 5 hour standoff at Twin Peaks with the biker gangs, I heard everything, no encryption. I recorded this entire event should anyone want to listen. Waco has a close relationship with the police department. They are community-minded. Our Public Information Officer even walked me through the letter needed to obtain the fleet maps through the freedom of information submission. He told me that there would be obvious need for encryption on the more sensitive channels like Narcotics, Street Crimes, etc. He kept his word to this very day.

When LE act like cretins with a linear thought process, very little is allowed into that type of thinking pattern. I hated to hear this about the latest in the falling dominoes of needless encryption. When critical thinking is employed, you can better solve problems.

So, if they challenge the need for encryption by citing officer safety, remind them, that NO LE officers were shot or harmed during this roughly 5 hour event in Waco, Texas.
 
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K0JWW

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I contacted KGAN, KCRG, KWWL and Gazette on Sunday to let them know about this proposed change. Glad to hear one of them contacted you.
Glad I am not the only one speaking up. That is 4 that I know of. I'll be happy to be the public face of this, but I need to see more people speak up

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 

IowaGuy1603

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False maybe in the future but state can only communicate via vlaw31 an point 2 point with our county unless patched from Lea to an event ch. On ISP base ch I have heard troopers asking their dispatch to confirm what they have heard via scanner. All troopers monitor local counties on scanners. In the future they may get radios but currently only a few have radios!

Several Troopers have been "issued" Portable radios by either JCom or Linn County so as to be better able to assist on calls in their area
 

newsphotog

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Interesting that KCRG chose to use footage from the DMPD press conference about an incident where they pled with the scanning public for information. I'd hope that's mentioned in KCRG's report.
 
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