Fort Meade/NSA Police

[TinEar]

Does anyone have even a bit of a clue where the NSA police transmit? We've often heard they are encrypted but where are they hiding? I recently heard the Ft. Meade MPs talking about checking with the NSA police to see if a BOLO had been issued on a particular vehicle. They did that in spite of being on the scene with the AA PD at the vehicle stop. I honestly don't understand why the MPs have never had a working communications relationship with AA County for such things and, especially, when they work together for incidents at the Ft. Meade borders which happen often. Anyway, the location of the NSA Police radio transmissions has grabbed my curiosity.

Speaking of a BOLO, I've heard them called BOLO, BOLA and just the three letters B.O.L. such as the Virginia State Police use. Any other abbreviations you've heard in your areas for the same thing?

 

[n3bxv]

I have heard many problems coordinating the MPs and AACO police.Iits like listening to keystone cops when you have scanners on both the MPs and AACO at the same time.
Would it be that difficult to set up an AACO radio at the Desk Sergeant/PMO Dispatcher so they could coordinate and call teletype?

What's the deal with the "Dept of Commerce" trunked system out of Baltimore, I've never heard any clear traffic on it; could the NSA police be using it?

 

[SCPD]

The N.S.A. Police were, as of January 2002, using a conventional repeater on 408.650mhz output/408.350mhz input, PL tone 82.5hz. It was/is using full time DES encryption. I believe they also have OTAR capability as you will hear a data burst several times late at night. There is also a conventional repeater on 410.025mhz output/407.175mhz input, PL tone 82.5hz. It's used for contractors and you'll hear alot of use when they have to bring in the snowplows.

Once in awhile you'll hear the NSA police dispatcher in the clear but I think the officers radios are forced encryption. They were using Motorola Saber I's B.T.W.

The MP's and the NSA police were using the contractor repeater, for coordination, right after 9/11. The NSA police were augmenting the security details on the gates and for vehicle inspections. When I worked for A.A. County our dispatcher had a "hotline" direct with their P.M.O. and the surrounding L.E. agencies also.

If anyone near Fort Meade can still confirm if the frequencies/PL tones are still in use it would be great.

 

[TinEar]

Putting them in my scanner now. I'll let you know what I hear there frootydawg. Thanks.

 

[rpoole23]

At Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County, the DOD police on base use the 400mhz trunked system, and yet (at least had) a good relationship with the County Sheriff's Ofc and the Aberdeen PD. While working there there was a base station radio for the county at the dispatcher's station at both Aberdeen Area and Edgewood Areas, and there were several county handheld radios that we could take out with us and when we would patrol the off-base housing areas could call for help if needed going to and from. They could not talk directly with Aberdeen PD on their main freq, but since all of the radios in Harford Co had Ch.3 which was inter-agency comms at 460.300mhz we could use that county radio to speak with them and Havre de Grace PD or even Bel Air PD if needed. Now the new system will make all of that mcuh easier!!
Shame others can't have that setup, at Patuxent River NAS they also have a portable for our county 800mhz system to talk to us. Don't know why a large base and agency (AA Co ) can't do the same.........

 

[Dispatcher308]

rpoole23 I could not have said it any better. It is a perfect example of interoperability which has gone nowhere since Sept. 11 2001

 

[TinEar]

frootydawg: You were correct. Both those freqs are being heard - both encrypted but very loud. Thank you.

 

[TinEar]

The NSA Police frequency of 408.65 is extremely active around the clock. Of course, it's encrypted but something I want to pass along is the Morse ID they transmit on the freq. It's not a callsign, just an identifier. It's...DOD FMEADE

 

[bear105]

Excellent. Thanks for the info. I guess the concept of "security thru obscurity" is not in effect here...

 

[TinEar]

Nope, it sure isn't. By the way...Wackenhut employees...gleaned from an MP conversation.

 

[PJH]

Where does the PL come from? If using encyption, the PL is dropped as PL and encyption don't play well together.

That's why when you have a channel that runs clear/coded, you hear the data burst for a second, then it disapears That datapacket tells the reapeater and other radio to drop the PL.

 

[n3bxv]

Wackenhut is just on the Main Post Gates, entry control only, with no law enforcement power.

 

[SCPD]

Are the Wackenhut guys the minimum wage types or are they semi-professional? The Savannah River Site, which is a Department of Energy facility in South Carolina, uses Wackenhut for their security. They actually have law enforcement powers, a genuine SWAT team, and an aviation division. Most of the guys I know that work there are former Marines, police officers, Special Forces, SWAT members, etc. Just curious if Fort Meade took their security as serious. B.T.W., what happened to the MP's? Do they not have enough personnel for the mission?

 

[n3bxv]

I don't know what their actual wages are but I would guess Minimum wage or slightly better. Here's a webpage with the openings
http://www.alutiiq.com/jobs/show.php?id=691 Alutiiq is partnered with Wackenhut as a "native alaskan company" which gives them advantages with federal contracts.
The MPs haven't handled the gates for a while, the National Guard was running the gates until the Civilian guards got on board. I'm seeing more Department of the Army Civilian Police officers now as well. I'm sure the aim is to make more soldiers available for deployments(s). This has been a goal of the Army for a while, even before the current Iraq situation, and they have civilianized a lot of postions that were formerly held by soldiers.

 

[jks19714]

The times that I have gone through the gates at Meade, they were quite professional. Courteous, but they did a pretty good random vehicle search on me this Summer (I was at Meade for three weeks).

They strike me as a cut-above the usual Security Guard, but not DOE caliber. Just an impression...

 

[TinEar]

"...no law enforcement power."

I know you meant this in a legal sense. However, when you have an M16 cradled in your arms, you have lots and lots of (law) enforcement power.

Frootydawg, the guys you mentioned at Savannah and other critical sites are some tough and well trained hombres. Wackenhut has lots of contracts and sub contracts covering the whole spectrum of quasi military work.

 

[n3bxv]

LOL,
In this case, they may have LEAD enforcement powers, but not Law enforcement powers.

Chuck

 

[jks19714]

What impressed me is the fact that they are not dead from the neck up like some security guards. After a few days, several of the guards on the evening shift greeted me by name before getting my ID. I was just another old man in BDUs (maybe older than most :roll: ), but a couple of em had great memories. Even with that, they inspected my ID, tags and temporary vehicle pass. No fooling around.

 

[TinEar]

I have two more freqs that belong to something on Ft. Meade but I don't know their function yet. Both these freqs transmitted the same Morse ID that was heard on the NSA Police freqs...DOD FMEADE. They are 409.375 and 417.60.

 

[SCPD]

I forgot to mention before but, when I was stationed there we were issued pagers sometimes. The frequency was 409.900mhz. It may not be worth anything it's just F.Y.I. stuff.

TinEar: The police repeater info I submitted was for the main facility at Fort Meade. NSA has several other "offices" in the Baltimore area that's manned by NSA police as well. Those frequencies you posted may be one for their other "offices" but I'm not sure. If they are my guess is that the higher frequency would be the repeater input????