Washington DC: Mayor orders DC Fire to remove encryption

[blantonl]

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered the D.C. Fire Department to lift the encryption of the department's radios.

She has instructed the fire chief to stop encrypting the department's radio transmissions beginning Friday morning.

Mayor Muriel Bowser Orders D.C. Fire to Lift Radio Encryption | NBC4 Washington

 

[natedawg1604]

Wow. Does anyone have other examples where this has happened?

 

[mancow]

:lol:

 

[nsrailfan6130]

I can't think of anyplace offhand. I'm kind of surprised with this one.

 

[scannermanner1]

Hmm maybe encryption does after all have something to do with there radios not working in the metro subway tunnels

 

[gesucks]

Hmm maybe encryption does after all have something to do with there radios not working in the metro subway tunnels

NOPE! Try again

 

[scannermanner1]

NOPE! Try again

Where you at the incident?

 

[DASFlies]

Doesn't matter whether the encryption had anything to do with the radio issues at L'Enfant Plaza from a technical perspective. The perception is that it did, the mayor likely knows no better.

Regardless, good news if they go through with removing it, bottom line is there is no reason to have it encrypted. Made even less sense that the Hospital channels, most likely to have sensitive health information were still in the clear.

 

[RadioSquad]

Its about time that our community gets a break. Fire Comms should never of been encrypted anyways.

I think this article should be sent to every mayor that has a city that is locked down.

 

[szron]

NICE! Good to see DC (not the best place to be in the scanner community) making a movement in the right direction.

Though its not the first time a move is made in this direction. Somebody look up the case of New Orleans, couple years ago enc was supposed to happen but media got pissed and the mayor stepped in.

 

[blantonl]

Encryption didn't have anything to do with the problems with the incident in the tunnel. The optics of the decision though are weighing on the whole process and the mayor and DC fire has nothing to lose by making this argument go away by removing unneeded encryption for DC Fire.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Bowser Administration Announces New Radio Encryption Protocol for First Responders
(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Administration announced new protocols for the use of encrypted channels as the default communications protocol for DC FEMS (DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services). Following the Navy Yard Shooting, the District changed protocols for first responders to use only encrypted channels. That protocol has been changed to ease day-to-day communications between first responders from regional jurisdictions.

“After a thorough review that began in December, Mayor Bowser has decided that it is in the best interest of the District and its residents to change encryption protocols for DC FEMS first responders. Starting in March, unencrypted channels will be used for all standard operations, while still maintaining encryption capabilities for events that contained sensitive communication,” said City Administrator Rashad Young. “These new protocols will ensure that DC FEMS can seamlessly communicate with their counterpart agencies from other jurisdictions while embracing encryption technology that will ensure the safety and security of residents and visitors during incidents deemed sensitive.”

Bowser Administration Announces New Radio Encryption Protocol for First Responders | mayormb

 

[fourthhorseman]

Its about time that our community gets a break. Fire Comms should never of been encrypted anyways.

Could never understand why FD/TRS was encrypted anyway,I lived in Philadelphia, the fire/ems dispatch,hazmat were clear,all the fireground channels were encrypted...and strapped as well.

the PD on the other hand,virtually all clear on the TRS narcotics was supposed to be enc,but there were plenty of ops in the clear. IAD and SWAT were the only ones that were strapped enc..

Always boggles my mind when I see fire comms locked up.

 

[PhillyPhoto]

Could never understand why FD/TRS was encrypted anyway,I lived in Philadelphia, the fire/ems dispatch,hazmat were clear,all the fireground channels were encrypted...and strapped as well.

the PD on the other hand,virtually all clear on the TRS narcotics was supposed to be enc,but there were plenty of ops in the clear. IAD and SWAT were the only ones that were strapped enc..

Always boggles my mind when I see fire comms locked up.

If I recall correctly, the firegrounds were encrypted (it was selective at first), because a buff would be giving what equates to a sports announcers play-by-play of what was going on. On top of that, he was critiquing them while they were still trying to do their jobs to people listening to the radio network he was on. It was the precursor to the issues we see with live streams today.

 

[APX7500X2]

Hmm maybe encryption does after all have something to do with there radios not working in the metro subway tunnels

Ok we all know digital encryption doesn't change the power of the radio

Ok we all know digital encryption doesn't change the range of the radio

Ok we all know digital encryption doesn't change audio of the radio

Ok we all know digital encryption is just 1s and 0s just like non encrypted digital and the only difference is you have to have the key to listen to it.

So how could Encryption have anything to do with it.?

Oh yea it can't

 

[kb4cvn]

FireRescue.com coverage on this topic.



D.C. fire dept. ordered to stop encrypting radios

 

[kb4cvn]

Encryption didn't have anything to do with the problems with the incident in the tunnel. The optics of the decision though are weighing on the whole process and the mayor and DC fire has nothing to lose by making this argument go away by removing unneeded encryption for DC Fire.

Lindsay, this appears to me as another knee-jerk political reaction.
Not based on any technical shortcoming or failure. Users can't communicate, gotta change something...................ANYTHING!



Reminds me of the Navy Yard shooting. First responders couldn't communicate (even on simplex) from inside the structure to folks outside. "Must be a failure of the NCR radio system!"

....Gee, did anybody consider the 60 dB+ TEMPEST shielding present in the building? That is why secure facilities in the region have low-power trunking systems for internal communications, and only a few talkgroups are bridged outside of the secure area.

 

[jland138]

Did the Washington Post get the story wrong? (Metro officials clarify communication breakdown during L)

Requa told members of Metro’s board of directors Thursday that radio engineers for the transit agency spent the weekend of Jan. 10 and 11 trying to determine the cause of the problem. It is Metro’s responsibility to maintain the signal-relaying equipment in the subway for use by emergency personnel.

By Monday morning, hours before the riders were trapped on the smoke-filled train, Metro workers had “looked at everything possible . . . trying to sort out the radio trouble” on Metro’s side of the system, Requa said. He said the radio engineers were left with “more questions than answers.”

He said they then scheduled a meeting for Jan. 14 with D.C. fire officials to attempt to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

The fatal tunnel smoke incident occurred before that meeting could be held.

Requa said it was eventually determined that firefighters had changed the encryption codes on their radios and made other changes without notifying Metro. Once the confusion was discovered — at the Jan. 14 meeting — the problem was easy to solve.

“We went back and made the modifications that we needed to make to allow that system to work,” Requa said. “The fire department tested their radios and the system was up and running, and it’s running today.”

 

[quarterwave]

Make as much sense as my state having the Forestry boys encrypted on the same system the Highway Patrol uses, and they are not. Hmmm. Gotta have a lot of privacy when you report that rabid squirrel.

 

[fredva]

IF the decision to encrypt was an attempt to hide problems from the media, the aftermath of the tunnel incident showed that it didn't help - the D.C.F.D still got lots of negative press, with information being fed to the media from fire department insiders and other agencies. Some of that negative press - accurate or not - involved the encryption itself.

What we do know is that in the weeks after the tunnel incident, D.C. officials realized that extensive encryption was more trouble than it was worth.