After reading that very very lengthy news article whining about the E word, it seems to me that the NYPD is in the process of switching to a P25 system with the option to encrypt when necessary, not fulltime encryption. This would be a good thing, since there are criminals who use scanners to avoid capture, although I guess they wouldn't care much these days since they know they'll be released to victimize more innocent people before the arresting officer(s) even finish his/her report. Do I think the public has a right to hear police comms? Well - yes and no - there are exceptions. I think it's beneficial sometimes for the public to know if someone tried to open their car door in front of their house, or if some kid is running from the police in your neighborhood after threatening his dad with a knife - both of which I've had happen, and when I saw that kid after the officers were unable to find him, I called them and they found him at the school just up the street. So, yes, I think open radio transmissions can be a good thing, but that's not always true. Al Sharpton said that people need to know what officers are doing, but if someone doesn't know in the slightest, anything about how the police operate, then simply listening to their radio traffic all day won't really tell you what they're doing. And he's always one of the first ones to complain and criticize how the police do their job, but he wouldn't have the guts to go on a ride-along much less do the job himself. If he tried to do that job the way he wants them to, he would end up getting himself killed within a year or so if not less. Even if the NYPD will use full encryption all the time, then I don't blame them considering all the riots and negative attitude and highest record of officers shot or shot at this year. When you have a city or a county full of people who criticize without having any of the facts, or respond to the scene of an accident or a shooting and put themselves in a dangerous situation or take pictures of the scene and put them on Facebook, and in a place like New York where the concern of being ambushed by some idiot just because of their hate for anyone willing to risk their life for people they don't even know is valid and legitimate, then a place like that does not have a right to eavesdrop on their radio traffic, because all they're gonna do is abuse that ability. My reasoning behind this is that people have a right to be safe without being afraid that a crime might happen to them or a loved one or friend, neighbor, etc. and if people can help make their neighborhoods safer by letting police know when they see someone they were looking for, then let them hear it, but if that will only do the opposite, then don't. It's as simple as that.