Baltimore City Police/Fire

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NJEMT12982

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Just spoke to a friend who was issued a new APX radio with all the bells and whistles. I am hearing they will be going digital and running full encryption within weeks. I did a search on here and came up empty. Anyone have further info on the new system?
 

maus92

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There has been talk of BCP transitioning to encryption when the latest commissioner was hired. The city allocated some funding to refresh technology as a result of the Freddie Gray Riots after action report, but they are not building a new system. The police have been using XTL/XTS subscribers since the P25 system (aka "digital") was installed years ago, and they are EOL.
 

Mr_Boh

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More than likely the same system, just an upgrade. Depending on existing infrastructure and requirements for encryption (like OTAR) some systems require upgrades which is not visible to the average scanner user for any reason other than the new TGs that are strapped to encryption. They could more or less get an entirely new system and it you would never know it as things like repeaters, backhaul, servers, etc. are swapped out piece by piece.

It's likely that the new encrypted talkgroups will be patched to existing ones, so someone who is good with watching control channels could pick up on what each of the new full-time encrypted talkgroups are.
 

Citywide74

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I seriously doubt the encryption will go through as our current and fairly new mayor is very big on transparency. I promise it will be fought on a local level.
 

Spleen

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Yeah, Charlie, I was hoping you knew something the rest of us city residents didn't re: the encryption, but it looks like business as usual here in Mobtown. I don't know where the impression that our Mayor is very big on transparency came from, but between the MD legislature screwing the cops and driving out what's left of the experienced personnel, the Baltimore government's refusal to admit there's a problem, and our almost-Federally-indicted City State's Attorney deciding that allowing Baltimore to devolve into a piss-and-fece-filled war zone would be a good policy, I can't for the life of me say I'm surprised that during what's currently going on, we (people who actually pay the taxes to live here and dodge bullets) will be locked out of what little we could already hear of efforts to keep the peace.
And you have to laugh, because otherwise you'll cry--the segment of the population claiming to be the most put-upon by law enforcement, no matter which jurisdiction, are painfully quiet on the subject.
Fortunately my lease is up later this year....
 
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