Facebook and the scanner app debacle

[bailagent67]

I'm sure everyone seen on their local community Facebook group about police scanner apps. Usually the typical stay at home mom posting about something going on in the neighborhood.

I gave up trying to explain that there not that great, but a real scanner.


Me personally, I wish they would stop those stupid apps period!!!

 

[W9WSS]

I don't know about your area, here in the western suburbs of Chicago, just about everything is encrypted. DuPage County dispatch centers have delayed encryption, but it's coming sometime in the near future. That also means that "scanner apps" will be of no use except for Chicago PD, which is re-broadcasting their zone radio channels 30 minutes after the actual transmission on Broadcastify. So that will be the only option in Chicago. Presently, the Citywides are still in the clear.

 

[bailagent67]

That sucks to hear that about your area. My area ( Mid Michigan) , is still hanging in there.

That why I wish they would just the app down, or charge the ones doing it like a broadcast fee ($250) mo.

 

[resnickm]

I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting to know what’s happening in your community. I also don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with a service looking to fulfill that and provide information pertaining to public safety incidents. Especially considering most agencies provide limited real-time insight (understandably, of course).

However, there absolutely needs to be a better understanding that unless you are getting your information directly from an official agency, what you are getting, at best, is an interpretation that could range from almost entirely accurate to entirely inaccurate.

As I said, I completely understand why agencies provide limited real-time information (if any at all) and support that when it serves the interest of officer safety, privacy, and accuracy. That being said, I do feel that the more visibility agencies provide directly, the less is open to interpretation. It’s a tricky balance and I don’t know the right answer, but that’s my two cents.

 

[W9WSS]

Do we say TRANSPARENCY?

 

[N4DES]

A good number of agencies are using Reverse-911 to provide important information for missing and endangered kids and/or adults, shelter in place, road avoidance, etc. They typically require an opt-in but is handy when doing other things.

 

[murphcc1]

What I hate about it is the ones that wont listen to anything but then ask all kinds of questions of why there are so many sirens in their area, "Whats going on?" Get a scanner or an app.......lazy af

 

[ScannerSK]

My county keeps dispatch channels in the clear and tactical channels encrypted. It's a nice balance.

In areas of total blackout, we can spread the news far and wide that the police are not transparent and are hiding misconduct from the public by encrypting their basic dispatch channels. What do they want everyone to drive and see what is going on instead of listening at home?

 

[MTS2000des]

The problem with "Facebook dispatchers" is they get it wrong and often times, release information that is inaccurate, and because of today's "instant" society, no one checks facts before regurgitating it. Often times PSAP's get flooded with calls during developing incidents or non-incidents that do at minimum, interfere with legitimate callers as precious call taker/dispatcher resources are wasted answering the "no, that is not what is happening" to dealing with high stress actual calls and the added effect of additional callers getting in the way. Then you have the whackers, "auditors" and everyone else showing up on scenes actually physically getting in the way.

The bottom line is the golden rule of scanning has always been to not divulge publicly what one hears unless it's been confirmed, validated by official sources. Never show up at scenes and don't call 911 or non-emergency lines with "ask Angie" questions.

We all want to be informed and situational awareness is most scannists interests. However the sensationalists, influencers and bottom feeders are ruining it for the rest of us.

 

[buddrousa]

I travel with a portable scanner in my service van it is a great tool to know what is happening in front of you and give you time to make a plan to take a different road so as to not get caught up in traffic. Several times I have made detours around wrecks and fires that would have had me delayed in getting to job sites by hours.

 

[W9WSS]

In our immediate area, the Bolingbrook Police Department directed their dispatch center, The Western Will County Communications Center (Wescom) transition their 155.250 VHF repeater, abandon it, create a talk group on Starcom21, and place it on full-time encryption. Before the transition to totally encrypted Starcom 21 (as explained to me), was that a call would be placed by the police dispatcher over 155.250 MHz. Certain *individuals* would appear at the scene before the arrival of the police. It was a group who were bordering on obstructing the police, and when asked to leave the immediate area, were indifferent and hostile to the police. I'm not talking about a public street or venue, but impeding the investigation(s) of crime scene(s), and walking past evidence tape without legal authority.

Although the fire department remained in the clear, the police were encrypted, and that's how it remained.

I've also been informed that several of the other police entities dispatched by Wescom will be on Starcom21 in full-time encryption.

Again, I will use the term "transparency," which I guess doesn't apply (or the entities think so) isn't in the true form.

 

[bailagent67]

What I hate about it is the ones that wont listen to anything but then ask all kinds of questions of why there are so many sirens in their area, "Whats going on?" Get a scanner or an app.......lazy af

I tell them to buy a real scanner. But they don't want to invest.

 

[bailagent67]

The problem with "Facebook dispatchers" is they get it wrong and often times, release information that is inaccurate, and because of today's "instant" society, no one checks facts before regurgitating it. Often times PSAP's get flooded with calls during developing incidents or non-incidents that do at minimum, interfere with legitimate callers as precious call taker/dispatcher resources are wasted answering the "no, that is not what is happening" to dealing with high stress actual calls and the added effect of additional callers getting in the way. Then you have the whackers, "auditors" and everyone else showing up on scenes actually physically getting in the way.

The bottom line is the golden rule of scanning has always been to not divulge publicly what one hears unless it's been confirmed, validated by official sources. Never show up at scenes and don't call 911 or non-emergency lines with "ask Angie" questions.

We all want to be informed and situational awareness is most scannists interests. However the sensationalists, influencers and bottom feeders are ruining it for the rest of us.

Agreed. And those losers 1st Amendment Auditor's just show up to get a reaction for a YouTube channel. There all criminals and broke.

 

[tvengr]

I travel with a portable scanner in my service van it is a great tool to know what is happening in front of you and give you time to make a plan to take a different road so as to not get caught up in traffic. Several times I have made detours around wrecks and fires that would have had me delayed in getting to job sites by hours.

In bad weather, I have always listened to Fire and Police for reports of icy roads so I can avoid them.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

What I hate about it is the ones that wont listen to anything but then ask all kinds of questions of why there are so many sirens in their area, "Whats going on?" Get a scanner or an app.......lazy af

My 73 year old aunt lives a few blocks away. She always calls me and asks what going on when there are sirens or news choppers flapping around. I'll call her back and tell her what I heard on the scanner or if I didn't hear it, I just say I don't know. She's one of these that for whatever reason won't join the 21st century and get a smart phone. She complains she doesn't have a computer and expects others to tell her about what's going on beyond the stupid daily news paper but I tell her that you no longer need a cumbersome PC to access the internet now. I mean I have 2 local TV station apps on my phone so if something happens, chances are something will pop up before it even comes on the evening or midday news. So she wouldn't need a scanner. If people won't make an effort, you can't do much with them.

 

[Wilrobnson]

My county keeps dispatch channels in the clear and tactical channels encrypted. It's a nice balance.

In areas of total blackout, we can spread the news far and wide that the police are not transparent and are hiding misconduct from the public by encrypting their basic dispatch channels. What do they want everyone to drive and see what is going on instead of listening at home?

So you openly advocate for lying to friends, family and neighbors? And you honestly expect encryption to induce misconduct, as if cops are talking about breaking the law/policies literally over recorded and disclosable dispatch channels?

This why I have trouble taking people seriously anymore.

 

[webstar22]

The best way to do it is not to let just anyone post on the group/page. People can comment on what is posted but not post themselves.
How I run both my pages and groups. But FB is a perfect place to allow users to post pictures and videos of what might have been posted.
I also keep the majority of the important items in the group which isn't public access so you have to be in it to see it, and there is no share button.

Renfrew County Scanner <-- Public
Log into Facebook <--Private

I have a Discord server full of trusted people both from civilians as well as emergency services, 5 of them are moderators on my FB page and can use a system I built to post as things happen. This makes the posting as an image so it's not as easy for people to just copy/paste into other platforms.
Example:

 

[Falcon9h]

I travel with a portable scanner in my service van it is a great tool to know what is happening in front of you and give you time to make a plan to take a different road so as to not get caught up in traffic. Several times I have made detours around wrecks and fires that would have had me delayed in getting to job sites by hours.

Exactly why I carry one.

 

[ScannerSK]

So you openly advocate for lying to friends, family and neighbors? And you honestly expect encryption to induce misconduct, as if cops are talking about breaking the law/policies literally over recorded and disclosable dispatch channels?

This why I have trouble taking people seriously anymore.

I don't endorse lying. When police purposefully and intentionally hide and conceal from the public their most basic communications this is NOT being transparent; this is the truth. There are tactical channels that can be used for sensitive communications. There are loads of videos of cops breaking the law and pushing their weight around in an illegal manner. Clear dispatch channels are a matter of accountability. Why would public officials shirk accountability if they are not doing anything wrong? There are many stories of cops getting fired for their misconduct, at times intentional and at times unintentional, which acts are at times aired over the airwaves. Hiding basic communications from the general public fosters distrust and suspicion and prevents accountability.

 

[MTS2000des]

There are many stories of cops getting fired for their misconduct, at times intentional and at times unintentional, which acts are at times aired over the airwaves. Hiding basic communications from the general public fosters distrust and suspicion and prevents accountability.

Name one example where police used recorded, encrypted or clear, radio communications to facilitate criminal activity. Waiting...waiting....
It's easy to throw the "transparency" mantra around. It's also difficult for some to accept that whackers, stalkers and over zealous individuals are ruining it for everyone.