Washington, D.C., officials switched off the encryption for fire communications. The move came after firefighters had problems using their radios in a subway tunnel during an emergency response. The tunnel filled with smoke because of an electrical malfunction, killing one person and sickening dozens more.
The Metro transit agency, which had a radio system in the subway that allowed below-ground communications by city firefighters, said the radio problems were the result of the fire department changing its own radio system, including adding encryption, without telling the transit agency. City officials denied encryption caused the problems.
I would sure hate a mass emergency and encryption caused communication failures which caused lost lives.
While encryption protects privacy and prevents criminals from tracking police movement, it works best for preplanned tactical or staged situations and is no longer ideal for emergency situations.
Some police and fire departments are bucking a trend to conceal dispatch communications from the public, acknowledging that radio encryption has the potential to backfire and put first responders in danger.
Agencies with digital radio systems have turned off the encryption to their main dispatching channels and others have decided not to turn it on. They say their officers and firefighters may not be heard during emergencies by responders at neighboring departments with radio systems that either don’t have access to their encrypted channels or aren’t advanced enough to have encryption capability.
Also taxpayers will move to area where they are not spending this type of money on a system that the public, news organizations want to be alerted when major events happen.
This practice withholds crucial information about emergency situations from the public.... period.
You and several others will never agree so my final word. Dont bother responding because I wont read your posts anymore. Not interested in your view.