Good discussion and points. I will say that there is a value to the citizenry knowing what is going on around them in some cases. If a dangerous person is on the loose, it's kind of nice for the citizenry to know for safety reasons, but then of course the bad guy COULD also be listening, catch 22. I once spotted the getaway vehicle of an armed robber and flagged down a patrol car and they got they guy right then because I heard the call on the scanner and assisted. There are many other cases like this that you can find.
The standard SHOULD be, that if there is no clear reason to encrypt, they shouldn't. Just keeping people in the dark to avoid public oversight and awareness is nonsense for a conservatarian like myself, and encryption is used for that reason far too often. Citizens can't complain about things they are never even aware of. Violent crimes happen all the time in the valley and the media often doesn't even know these days. Only an experienced scanner person scanning multiple systems with the right gear will know how to find certain things out. But of course the cops are happy to have the citizens NOT know that a murder or rape ever even happened (yes it's all ultimately public record but who goes searching?). No news is good news for LE. My son is midway through the Phoenix Police academy and we have discussed this very topic. Its understandable that LE loves encryption. They don't really see a downside despite the "good stories" like the ones I'm mentioning. Our local media (according to Phoenix PD) caused PPD to encrypt the hot DECs. The media owns part of this, at least here in Phoenix.
Scanner users are a tiny, tiny percentage of the public these days. When I was a kid in Indiana probably a quarter of local households had scanners and listened regularly. Times have changed. Things like simulcast problems, equipment prices, and increasing complexity have also caused average citizens and even some news people to likely throw up their hands on monitoring, and the scanner community is a tiny fraction of what it once was. The advent of smart devices has left things like radio hobbies in the rear-view mirror for the most part. Scanner apps are pretty much garbage for anyone really wanting to do controlled monitoring. In short, LE couldn't care less what a small number of scanner people think.
Even Phoenix PD helicopter pilots are more aware now of what they say on AM air to air.
I sometimes hear officers carping on the radio about not having encryption when they are doing joint ops on G Dec. They have grown used to encrypting a lot of what they do.
This trend will only strengthen. Encryption is the future, right, wrong, or otherwise. There is no going back.
My advice? Enjoy what we can, while we still can, there is still a lot to hear if you know how and where to listen.