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.