Douglas & Elbert County Law Enforcement to Encrypt

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lazierfan

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DCSO ch1 broadcasting their encrypted traffic . Don't know what the delay was Monday morning but it was silent until mid-afternoon, when encrypted traffic filled the airwaves.
 

Spitfire8520

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DCSO ch1 broadcasting their encrypted traffic . Don't know what the delay was Monday morning but it was silent until mid-afternoon, when encrypted traffic filled the airwaves.
Lasted until about 9 AM. I think they were reprogramming all the dispatch consoles between 6 AM to 9 AM, but wanted to cutover right at 6 AM. Castle Rock and Parker opted to say on their main channels using backup radios, whereas Douglas County opted to stay on their consoles and use Channel 3.
 

04Z1V6

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Well with all of this going on I no longer have a feed to provide. I have had this feed up for a very long time and thank all the fine people who helped it along. I started when it was scandenver.net. I really don’t remember if that is the first name I started the feed with. Correct that if I am wrong. I have shut down the computer and will be putting the scanners away that the feeds were running off of. I started listening to police and EMS with a little Heath Kit I got in 1972 and I think that is what started my interest with EMS. I was a paramedic in the mid 80s with Reed Ambulance in North Washington station 3 and Federal Heights. I never will understand the reasoning behind the encryption have said this before, the wife was a cop with Parker and DCSO way back when, I have 3 other family members who are LE and a daughter that is a prosecutor in town, believe me when they don’t want to be heard by the public they won’t be. 04Z1V6 signing off the air 73’s talk to you all soon. I will be listening to what is available. PLEASE VOTE and elect a new sheriff in Douglas County that will respect the Constitution.
 

ShyFlyer

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PLEASE VOTE and elect a new sheriff in Douglas County that will respect the Constitution.
I hate encryption* as much, possibly more, than anyone. However, we do ourselves absolutely no favors when we try to invoke imaginary Constitutional rights. Even the "open government" or "transparency in government" angle is a giant, almost impossible uphill battle since any agency in question can provide audio recordings and/or transcripts of calls for service and incident responses to satisfy that desire.

The general public does not gave a rat's...behind...about being able to monitor radio traffic in real time and will easily buy (if they haven't already bought) the "it's for Officer safety" excuse. The general public vastly out number people like you and I.


* = Disclaimer: I, like many, see the need for and the appropriateness for encryption on channels designated for sensitive or tactical situations but primary dispatch channels should be left in the clear.
 

04Z1V6

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This comment has nothing to do with radio traffic or encryption it has to do with a politician the sheriff in this case taking an oath to uphold the constitution of this state and this country and then selling the people that voted for him up the river by sponsoring the red flag bill in Colorado.
 

lazierfan

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While the general public portion of your post may be accurate,

I contend that the last shred of responsible-minded journalism has been torn away.
Blackmailing the media by saying, "show us your internal process, anytime, at any demand, and we'll provide you a descrambled de-encrypted source of our radio traffic realtime", is completely against any mode of operation in any journalistic endeavor, and even makes journalism professors cringe.
It sets a dangerous precedent and will, going forward, be fodder for litigation at worst, and be rumor-mongering at best.


I hate encryption* as much, possibly more, than anyone. However, we do ourselves absolutely no favors when we try to invoke imaginary Constitutional rights. Even the "open government" or "transparency in government" angle is a giant, almost impossible uphill battle since any agency in question can provide audio recordings and/or transcripts of calls for service and incident responses to satisfy that desire.

The general public does not gave a rat's...behind...about being able to monitor radio traffic in real time and will easily buy (if they haven't already bought) the "it's for Officer safety" excuse. The general public vastly out number people like you and I.


* = Disclaimer: I, like many, see the need for and the appropriateness for encryption on channels designated for sensitive or tactical situations but primary dispatch channels should be left in the clear.
 

lazierfan

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p.s. journalism has lost one very powerful, engineering-minded ally, and that is the scanner hobbyist. This is the slippery slope encryption has led us all down.
 

PRO2006

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It's be argued a lot on radio reference, but its spreading quickly here in Colorado which is why I think the discussion is still alive.

My problem with encryption is that it Reduces my Public Safety. I do help pay for public safety, and I don't like seeing mine being reduced.

I am less safe if dispatch channels are encrypted.

During the active shooter at the planned parenthood (Colorado Springs, Centennial Rd. and Filmore Rd., 2015). The shooting had just begun and I was listening from Woodland Park (west of the Springs). My daughter called (she knows I listen to the police) and said there were cop cars flying all around her.....I asked where she was...I25 almost to Filmore and was going to head west putting her right into the shooting scene within minutes. I immediately diverted her south of the whole scene. There were still shots being fired at the time she called and the scene was not secured.

Another time I was driving from Colorado Springs to Denver on I25 with my family. As I passed Monument I heard on the scanner that a high speed chase was developing behind us, and was heading north in our direction. Speeds were over 100 MPH and the suspect was ramming the state troopers vehicle, passing cars on the shoulder, and weaving through traffic. By listening to the scanner I knew the location of the pursuit and I exited the highway on the Greenland exit, then moved off the road and safely watched the pursuit pass us by. The pursuit got so dangerous towards Denver that the troopers called off the chase.

I can't tell you how many times scanning has helped us in other traffic situations, like knowing where a crash has occurred and finding another route. Or even learning about winter road conditions from the troopers and officers on patrol. Learning about the really bad icy spots before you get in the area, and even road closings. Another example is wildfires as our mountain subdivision only has one way in and out. I absolutely need to know if there is a fire, where it is, and where its headed. I have also avoided other potentially dangerous situations, like suspicious persons, suspected DUI vehicles in the area, ect.

Just the other day during the snow and wind storm. CDOT opened 285 in the Jefferson and Fairplay area. Traffic came into the area, conditions changed to whiteout and hundreds got stranded, buried in the drifts. I was able to avoid the area once I heard there were whiteout conditions. They ended up having to use a snow cat from Fairplay to start rescuing stranded motorist. The troopers and deputies could not make it through the drifts. The power was out too- no gas pumps working. It was a complete mess that lasted a long time. I am glad I did not become part of it...

I could go on and on listing these types examples. Any scanner enthusiast knows exactly what I am describing. I hear a lot about officer safety, but nothing about the reduction in my safety because of encryption.
 

4436time

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The police have no business taking away peoples ability to know what's going on around them.
It's be argued a lot on radio reference, but its spreading quickly here in Colorado which is why I think the discussion is still alive.

My problem with encryption is that it Reduces my Public Safety. I do help pay for public safety, and I don't like seeing mine being reduced.

I am less safe if dispatch channels are encrypted.

During the active shooter at the planned parenthood (Colorado Springs, Centennial Rd. and Filmore Rd., 2015). The shooting had just begun and I was listening from Woodland Park (west of the Springs). My daughter called (she knows I listen to the police) and said there were cop cars flying all around her.....I asked where she was...I25 almost to Filmore and was going to head west putting her right into the shooting scene within minutes. I immediately diverted her south of the whole scene. There were still shots being fired at the time she called and the scene was not secured.

Another time I was driving from Colorado Springs to Denver on I25 with my family. As I passed Monument I heard on the scanner that a high speed chase was developing behind us, and was heading north in our direction. Speeds were over 100 MPH and the suspect was ramming the state troopers vehicle, passing cars on the shoulder, and weaving through traffic. By listening to the scanner I knew the location of the pursuit and I exited the highway on the Greenland exit, then moved off the road and safely watched the pursuit pass us by. The pursuit got so dangerous towards Denver that the troopers called off the chase.

I can't tell you how many times scanning has helped us in other traffic situations, like knowing where a crash has occurred and finding another route. Or even learning about winter road conditions from the troopers and officers on patrol. Learning about the really bad icy spots before you get in the area, and even road closings. Another example is wildfires as our mountain subdivision only has one way in and out. I absolutely need to know if there is a fire, where it is, and where its headed. I have also avoided other potentially dangerous situations, like suspicious persons, suspected DUI vehicles in the area, ect.

Just the other day during the snow and wind storm. CDOT opened 285 in the Jefferson and Fairplay area. Traffic came into the area, conditions changed to whiteout and hundreds got stranded, buried in the drifts. I was able to avoid the area once I heard there were whiteout conditions. They ended up having to use a snow cat from Fairplay to start rescuing stranded motorist. The troopers and deputies could not make it through the drifts. The power was out too- no gas pumps working. It was a complete mess that lasted a long time. I am glad I did not become part of it...

I could go on and on listing these types examples. Any scanner enthusiast knows exactly what I am describing. I hear a lot about officer safety, but nothing about the reduction in my safety because of encryption.

Encrypting in Whitesville, USA, where crime is low is clearly a self-serving move.
 

4436time

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ShyFlyer

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From the linked article...

Josh Hans, spokesman for the Parker Police Department, said scanners often air personal details like a crime victim's date of birth and address that is not public information. There's no value in making that available on scanners, he said.
“We have long been weighing the balance with the media and the public's right to know, at the same time, balancing it with the public's privacy, more specifically victim privacy information, as well as officer safety,” Hans said.

Sounds like it was the agency's fault for not having policy and procedures in place to only transmit such info via MDT or, gee, I dunno, maybe having a secure channel dedicated to such information. :rolleyes:
 

Insulator

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I personally so sick and tired of of their buzz word "officer safety" reason to encrypt I could upchuck. But the public eats it up.
 

4436time

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Citizen privacy is mentioned as a concern, which isn't news, but anyone who thinks they have privacy who has a bank account, credit cards, gas cards, a driver's license, a mailing address, a health insurance policy, a job, especially a government job, been in the military, gone to school, been on the Internet, paid Social Security and income tax, etc., is fooling themselves if they think they have any appreciable degree of privacy and anonymity in our world.
 

madjoe43

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Come on guys you don't know why they are rushing to do this by the 1st? Say Red Flag. Can't have the gun owners knowing they are comimg too take his/her guns. Think about it?
 

jthorpe

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Lot's of comments from people who haven't been in the field here. Things are a lot different now than they were 20 years ago and criminals have changed with the times. Most agencies will just say sorry, not sorry... and it's not going to change.
 

madjoe43

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It's exactly why my department switched.
That's what they tell the public and want us to believe its like they try to say the guy who shot and killed that Deputy last January had a scanner when in fact he didn't he had the Deputy's radio who was laying in his Apartment.
 
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