A little while ago, I was reading Rochester PD's Special Investigation Section Procedure Manual, and in Chapter XII (also labeled as XIII, depending on where you look) it states:
"All personnel, upon being assigned to the SIS will have their personally issued portable radio reprogrammed. Reprogramming to SIS standards will provide secure channels in addition to the standard channels available to all officers. ... Upon transfer, all members are required to assure that their radios are reprogrammed, removing the secure frequencies."
The Manual was written in 2005, and was last updated three years ago. What channels could they be referring to? I would imagine whatever channels they were using are now defunct, but I'm really just guessing.
This was written long before P25, so SWAT/GRANET Tac is out of the question. As a side note, only RPD TACT and SWAT have decryption keys from what I understand, seeing as they refuse to move to "Channel 9" until all units operating on a scene are SWAT or TACT. SIS having access to encrypted channels would be unexpected, given that fact.
Moreover, it's quite clear Tac East and Tac West (and Tac County if RPD and MCSO are working together) have quite a bit of traffic that would be unique to investigators. These channels aren't secure, are often used for details, and wouldn't need to be programmed into radios.
Anyone have any ideas?
Also, if you're interested in the document, it can be found here: Special Investigations Section Manual
As previously stated, take note of the mislabeled chapters.
I also took a look through GO 540, which mentions dispatch channels, admin channels, RPD Tac, "the scene channel" (which explicitly warns, "They can be monitored with private scanners."), RPD Records, and the various tac channels (which states they're meant for county units, but that seems fairly inaccurate). There's no mention of encrypted channels, "Channel 9" (despite the other channel numbers being listed), or any SIS channels.
"All personnel, upon being assigned to the SIS will have their personally issued portable radio reprogrammed. Reprogramming to SIS standards will provide secure channels in addition to the standard channels available to all officers. ... Upon transfer, all members are required to assure that their radios are reprogrammed, removing the secure frequencies."
The Manual was written in 2005, and was last updated three years ago. What channels could they be referring to? I would imagine whatever channels they were using are now defunct, but I'm really just guessing.
This was written long before P25, so SWAT/GRANET Tac is out of the question. As a side note, only RPD TACT and SWAT have decryption keys from what I understand, seeing as they refuse to move to "Channel 9" until all units operating on a scene are SWAT or TACT. SIS having access to encrypted channels would be unexpected, given that fact.
Moreover, it's quite clear Tac East and Tac West (and Tac County if RPD and MCSO are working together) have quite a bit of traffic that would be unique to investigators. These channels aren't secure, are often used for details, and wouldn't need to be programmed into radios.
Anyone have any ideas?
Also, if you're interested in the document, it can be found here: Special Investigations Section Manual
As previously stated, take note of the mislabeled chapters.
I also took a look through GO 540, which mentions dispatch channels, admin channels, RPD Tac, "the scene channel" (which explicitly warns, "They can be monitored with private scanners."), RPD Records, and the various tac channels (which states they're meant for county units, but that seems fairly inaccurate). There's no mention of encrypted channels, "Channel 9" (despite the other channel numbers being listed), or any SIS channels.