Balt.County "Secret Channel" ?

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pratzert

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I was just listening to White Marsh/Parkville PD broadcasts and I heard a unit ask to speak to unit 850.

The dispatcher called for Unit 850 several times with no response.

Then... the dispatcher told the other unit that unit 850 was on the "Secret Channel".

Then she mentioned something like the "ISG" or the "ISD" channel.

I did not hear any transmissions between the two after that.

So... who know what the deal is with the "Secret" channel ?

Thanks, Tim
 
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brian13pickle

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Tim, could dispatch have said "ISU" ? Each precinct has three channels, and car unit(s) numbers relating to the precinct.

Eg:

Parkville Precinct 8
Car unit # 800-899
Ch. 108 Dispatch
Ch. 208 Tac. (usually to talk to other units)
Ch. 308 ISU (used for district undercover/detective type work)

For more channel info. check out Balto. Co. Public Safety on Database.
I hope this helps you out......Brian P.
 

pratzert

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brian13pickle said:
Tim, could dispatch have said "ISU" ? Each precinct has three channels, and car unit(s) numbers relating to the precinct.

Eg:

Parkville Precinct 8
Car unit # 800-899
Ch. 108 Dispatch
Ch. 208 Tac. (usually to talk to other units)
Ch. 308 ISU (used for district undercover/detective type work)

For more channel info. check out Balto. Co. Public Safety on Database.
I hope this helps you out......Brian P.

Hi Brian.

Yes, it could have easily been "ISU" since it was a little unclear to me. But I "thought" I had all of the ID's for the frequencies/channels loaded and did not hear any transmissions between the units.

Do you have any idea what I should check on my PRO-96 as far as the ID's to make sure I can receive these transmissions ? Or are they encrypted ?

Finally... do you know what the "ISU" stands for ?

I have recently begun to listen more and more to the scanner again and realize how much I was missing.

Thanks for the info... I really appreciate it.


Tim
 

brian13pickle

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Tim

Sorry, I haven't figured out what "ISU" stands for?
Maybe we can get some help on that one, from someone on here?
It would be greatly appreciated!
I don't quite know how to check the Pro-96 for talk group IDs. I mainly use Unident & GRE.
And your question about being encrypted. So far no channel(s) are on Balto Co.

Brian P
 

Metro174

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ISU is Investigative Services Units. The precinct detectives. The only ones who can go to the ISU channels are detectives and those with the rank of sergeant and higher.

Look at the "C" talk groups on the Baltimore County database. Those are the ISU channels.
 

ocguard

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This is correct. ISU talk groups are often referred to at "secret channels" because the dispatchers don't have them on their consoles. The only console that has them is the police liaison for purposes of receiving emergency button activations.

These talk groups are NOT encrypted, and can be monitored from any trunk tracking scanner. Baltimore County's SmartNet II system doesn't support encrypted talk groups. The only encryption you'll hear from Baltimore County is on simplex talk-arounds used by TAC and surveillance units using XTS5000s.
 

pratzert

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Matt,

Thanks for the info.... it's surprising that they don't have much capability to use encryption.

If we can listen to them... so can the bad guys.

Tim
 
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