Well, from the radio guy standpoint, there's some statements here that don't quite jive with reality.
Open air, keeps everyone honest, otherwise you get abuse which leads to lawsuits. If you can't say it over the air, don't say it! In this day and age there are more ways available to relay information other than the airways.
Open air doesn't guarantee honesty. Anyone who wants to do something fishy will just use their cell phone, or meet behind the donut shop.
Even with encryption, concerned citizens can still file Freedom of Information Act requests. No, it's not immediate, but you can still get recordings if you are honestly concerned that your local agency is up to no good.
So, the old adage is, if you can't convince them to keep the air open, the next time they want to raise your property taxes for other services, just vote no and remind them why you voted that way.
That might make someone feel good, but it's not going to change the reasons that agencies are going encrypted. For law enforcement agencies, there are established requirements that PII/CJI be full protected at all times and in all forms. Delayed feeds that people talk about do not satisfy those requirements.
There are lots of good reasons fire and EMS need encryption. Locally for us, it was a scanner listener that posted on social media about a death before the family was properly notified.
Victims rights come way ahead of hobbyist rights.
Now having said this .... I don't want to hear about tactical situations that police get involved in. They've already that that issue solved. Day to day dispatching does not require encryption.
Not all agencies have multiple channels or talk groups, and the requirements for protecting CJI/PII still exist. Someone forgetting to switch channels does not get a pass from those requirements. Officers/dispatchers have enough to do without having to switch channels every time they talk just to make things pleasurable for a small niche hobby group. So far, the arguments put up by hobbyists haven't had much power to impact this migration to encrypted systems. The legal reasons still exist and are not optional.
Keep in mind that just about all of us working in the industry are either hobbyists ourselves, or got our start with scanner/shortwave radios. We do understand what you are saying, but there are legal requirements that we must meet, and there is no magic wand solution that keeps hobbyists enjoying scanner listening while still meeting the requirements that come down from DOJ/FBI.
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