Firemen use ENC radios for crime

[harryshute]

Interesting that Global National details the fact that four Quebec firemen used ENC radios to help traffic drugs and smuggle cigarettes. The four including the fire chief were arrested by QPP. Why would fire get ENC talkgroups? Hope that doesn't happen in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But then again we may hear in the future about ENC EMS and Police frequencies used in the same manner.

 

[harryshute]

Winnipeg Free Press has details

In this Quebec town, the firefighters are accused of helping people light up - Winnipeg Free Press

 

[harryshute]

Quebec Firemen use ENC radios for crime

Interesting that Global National details the fact that four Quebec firemen used ENC radios to help traffic drugs and smuggle cigarettes. The four including the fire chief were arrested by QPP. Why would fire get ENC talkgroups? Hope that doesn't happen in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But then again we may hear in the future about ENC EMS and Police frequencies used in the same manner.

Wonder which system Godmanchester used? The town is about 1,500 and has 25 volunteer firefighters. The cheif is alledged by the QPP to be the second in command of the organization. 22 search warrants were issued so far including on the fire hall.
__________________

 

[SCPD]

Winnipeg Free Press has details

I hope they throw the book at them .. and give them substantial penalties.

 

[kma371]

To the press, "encrypted" could mean anything. They are hardly the ones to go to for the truth of a situation.

 

[harryshute]

The quote comes from the head of the Quebec Provincial Police who says they hid behind the fire station phone lines and encrypted radios to conduct transactions.

The phone/wire and radio intercepts will be interesting evidence.

 

[VE2ZPS]

Hi,

I've watched Global National's segment and it is possible that they've made a slight mistake; this FD is still working with analog radio; I hear them occasionnaly.
In fact, if I remember correctly, they are part of the Franklin County Mutual Aid so they have to cross on the US side once in a while.
It could have been their own radios ...

Keep in mind that this is very close to the extremely lucrative contreband smuggling area which include the various "reserves" and the Quebec-Ontario-US borders.

The people who are involved in these activities within this area are extremely well equipped; Night goggle vision etc etc etc .... name it; they have it.
They even use scramblers to jam encrypted RCMP radiocommunication and cell phone. This being said, I wouldn't be surprised that in the case of the firefighters, they were using their own encrypted radio.

On this video you'll see the results of the scrambling method used (at 05:45)
tva.canoe.ca

/

 

[kma371]

The quote comes from the head of the Quebec Provincial Police who says they hid behind the fire station phone lines and encrypted radios to conduct transactions.

The phone/wire and radio intercepts will be interesting evidence.

Ok but even admin doesn't know what their radios are capable of most of the time. The hear digital and think that means encryption.

Does anyone know if there are any encrypted channels/talkgroups for this agency? If I'm reading the DB right, they dont

 

[mikewazowski]

Please don't create duplicate threads for the same topic.

I have merged the two threads into one thread in the Quebec forum.

 

[harryshute]

I agree police brass often confuse digital with encryption. I believe the frequency in question is repeater 154.160 with input 155.130. It appears to have talk asround on the repeater output. This is from the unprotected Industry Canada records. IF they have a reason to have a protected license then it would not show.

On their virtual license what does "VOS STATIONS AUTORISEES 2 MOBILES VOS STATION AUTORISES L'AUTORISATION EST CONDITIONNELLE A L'USAGE DE TONALITE CODEE" mean?

I did enjoy the video and although I'm not fluent in french did see the part where it was clear they were talking about police radio communication by the RCMP.

 

[harryshute]

A RR database search for that frequency shows it registered to Huntingdon Fire in Monteregie County which has 3 live feeds including police and fire.

 

[plaws]

On their virtual license what does "VOS STATIONS AUTORISEES 2 MOBILES VOS STATION AUTORISES L'AUTORISATION EST CONDITIONNELLE A L'USAGE DE TONALITE CODEE" mean?

To me, that just means they need to use CTCSS, but I could easily be wrong.

BTW, there is no "QPP". The provincial police force is the Sûreté du Québec; there is no official English name. SQ is commonly used by residents in the Montreal area.

 

[harryshute]

Peter thanks very much for clairifying to an old anglophone like me about QPP From here on I'll go with the SQ. Simple enough. Good to hear from you on other than SCAN-L.

I figured it might be CTCSS but didn't want to jump to conclusions. So since the department uses a PL tone couldn't the guys set up a secret channel 3 using some sort of digital format and be unheard by those monitoring the CTCSS traffic? They could even use the repeater if it was capable of that.

 

[harryshute]

Have a look at this MotorTurbo license. Franklin County New York just across the border. 155.730 St. Regis Mohawk Police Dispatch. The plot thickens.

 

[KB7MIB]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; U; en-US) Gecko/20081217 Vision-Browser/8.1 301x200 LG VN530)

harryshute, you asked why fire would have encrypted talkgroups. Arson Investigators may use it. In many cases, they have police powers & are armed. The Phoenix, AZ FD has 2 encrypted TG's for sensitive operations, like VIP visits (the President, VP, etc)

 

[KB7MIB]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; U; en-US) Gecko/20081217 Vision-Browser/8.1 301x200 LG VN530)

Those are just two possibilities for the use of encryption in the fire service.

 

[harryshute]

When you look at the big picture I can accept that Phoenix has two talk groups ENC. I don't think that every radio in the fleet in set up for encryption. Here police arson investigator are armed but the firemen are armed witrh a friendly dog.

What I question is why a community of 1500 people with 25 firemen would need to encrypt dispatch and fireground transmissions. I also can accept the U.S. native police department using MotorTurbo as this area is plagued with drug and cigarette smuggling. Makes you wonder if they were also trying to keep tabs on the cops across the border when they were conducting crominal operations.

 

[DaveH]

Some encryption is necessary for sensitive fire comms such as arson investigations etc.
Ontario Fire Marshall has been known to use it.

May not apply to the town in question, but some community FDs such as Hemmigford,
Lacolle, in the same area, have access to Clinton Cty. NY 850MHz Moto trunked system.
They are listed as analog users:

Clinton County NY Trunking System, Plattsburgh, New York - Scanner Frequencies

Dave

 

[VE3RADIO]

Some encryption is necessary for sensitive fire comms such as arson investigations etc.
Ontario Fire Marshall has been known to use it.

May not apply to the town in question, but some community FDs such as Hemmigford,
Lacolle, in the same area, have access to Clinton Cty. NY 850MHz Moto trunked system.
They are listed as analog users:

Clinton County NY Trunking System, Plattsburgh, New York - Scanner Frequencies

Dave

That is very curious.. why do they have access and how does that work with Industry Canada? Wonder if they use those channels for primary ops.

 

[harryshute]

Maybe why there were recent news stories about a crack down on easy access back and forth for Mutual Aid. Fire departments were complaining about the buracracy at the border when responding lights and siren.