I am getting clear activity on talkgroup 1004 as well as 102 for West County PDs simulcasting with vhf.
I also live in Kaufman County and the sites are easily received so far.
Henderson County New P25 going encrypted
- Thread starter jm32935
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I also live in Kaufman County and the sites are easily received so far.
Ensnared
Member
You can add: Odessa, Texas and Williamson County to this list. I watched a former narcotic agent from west Texas set these two agencies up on a video.
Ugghhh
Right now Athens PD Dispatch only is not yet encrypted. The units are apparently.
My argument on encryption has always been pro for surveillance and sensitive communications however Dispatch Channels should remain in the clear in case we hear something that we should be aware of.
Perhaps an assailant running through our backyards where we can give a description to law enforcement. A plane crash or bad wreck where we can assist in reporting details etc....
Henderson County could have gone this route however I always become suspicious of radio systems that go completely encrypted at a great expense to taxpayers. What are they hiding?
Do they really think that a criminal type is going to invest 800 bucks on a P25 scanner, spend years learning how to program it etc... just to show up at a crime scene?
The data for people using scanners to avoid police during a crime is basically non-existent.
Encrypt the sensitive stuff that we shouldn't hear but if we can offer assistance to law enforcement from the privacy of our living rooms then why encrypt Dispatch channels?
My argument on encryption has always been pro for surveillance and sensitive communications however Dispatch Channels should remain in the clear in case we hear something that we should be aware of.
Perhaps an assailant running through our backyards where we can give a description to law enforcement. A plane crash or bad wreck where we can assist in reporting details etc....
Henderson County could have gone this route however I always become suspicious of radio systems that go completely encrypted at a great expense to taxpayers. What are they hiding?
Do they really think that a criminal type is going to invest 800 bucks on a P25 scanner, spend years learning how to program it etc... just to show up at a crime scene?
The data for people using scanners to avoid police during a crime is basically non-existent.
Encrypt the sensitive stuff that we shouldn't hear but if we can offer assistance to law enforcement from the privacy of our living rooms then why encrypt Dispatch channels?
I'm on the same page that you are. While certain tactical or surveillance communications may require encryption, normal dispatch traffic usually does not. With the increasing use of MDTs for dispatching calls, and providing additional information to units in the field, the odds that someone committing a criminal act would hear anything of use would be very small, if not non-existent. Plus, as you've noted, with the increasing number of trunked systems, including those that are P25, the average potential offender is not going to have the ability to hear anything useful.
In the rural areas especially, scanner listeners are a resource of additional "eyes", looking out for something out of the ordinary, or suspicious, help keep the areas safe. Several years ago, we were out in the 'Big Country', in Palo Pinto County. Somebody robbed a garage sale in Gordon, and I guarantee you dozens of extra sets of eyes started looking for any signs of the culprit.
As far as 'what are they hiding', several of the DFW area agencies that were among the first to employ full-bore encryption on PD, FD, & EMS, had incidents that did not portray them at their best.
I agree with your stance about encryption. However, the push for encryption is not about criminals using scanners to evade. It's about police/fire/EMS safety while they are on scene. You'd be surprised at what lengths people will do to know where and when police will show up and their on scene communications.
I really don't want to go down a rabbit hole, but since 9/11 our public officials have hidden more and more of their comms while its been ever easier for them to listen in on all of us. We as the public have to take a step back and look at the entire picture and realize that once something has been lost and accepted as a loss, its almost impossible to get back. In the case of a small East Texas county here going completely encrypted from their local taxpaying citizens they are serving, the sheriff, commissioners and city councils all have the power to reign it in, and if they don't, the citizens have their votes.
Ensnared
Member
Yes, the Unpatriotic Act did not help matters. The War On Terror remains outstanding. I am sure there are other variables involved.
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I have said it before and will say it again, Encryption is moot when the current trend is IP based radio systems instead of traditional LMR. They can be in the clear, but LTE/WiFi IP will render them silent.
Any of that can be legislated in one way or another if need be. Whether it be a delayed official feed, dispatch broadcast over both LTE and LMR, or at least a detailed active incident site. We should hope for public servants that care about the balance between full active transparency and officer and scene safety. God I’m starting to sound like one of those auditors😂
Well they can profile people without being Heard and talk on tac channels using encrypted communications to talk without you and I reporting inappropriate behavior to their supervisors. Farmers Branch is where I grew up and before they used encryption you could hear them discussing pulling someone over because the officers felt like because of color they didn't belong there or if their hair was too long they seem suspicious ! So I know that FB PD has to be happy they can't be Heard !
Unless they are really jumping the gun, it's probably not the Van Zandt system. Since that was only approved fairly recently and not yet licensed, that system will not be up for several months, if not longer. However, one of the 'advantages' that L3-Harris promised to Hunt and Van Zandt County was that if 'thier system went down', there were other Harris systems in the area (Kaufman & Rockwall counties). I have not seen anything (at least, not yet) that this cluster of Harris systems would be connected as a 'mini-regional' system, but who knows what they may come up with.
Actually it looks like they added a 5th site in the county
I can't confirm as I am too far away.
I can't confirm as I am too far away.
I wonder if they are adding it as a fill-in site, since the original Athens site is on the western edge of Athens, while this potential new site is about 11 miles to the southwest near the Cross Roads community.
I'm also too far away to try to confirm.
wx5vhf
Member
I have a friend that works for Harris. He says it is supposed to be a fully functional 5th site. I live 12 miles North of the site and I have been monitoring it for over a week. So far I have heard nothing being transmitted. No control channel or anything.
Ask your friend from Harris if a Rural County in Texas needs to be fully encrypted?
My hats off to the Harris sales team for selling Henderson County the encryption upgrade. Look I am a firm believer in locking us out of hearing sensitive, surveillance or internal communications but quite a few P25 systems across America have kept the Dispatch or routine communications in the clear.
The mitigating circumstances of those of us who enjoy monitoring local communications can be useful to local law enforcement at times without leaving our homes.
Lets say a dispatch call comes in of a police chase and it ends in your neighborhood. The assailant bails out and starts running through your backyard. Its easy for us to pick up a phone and call Dispatch and let the officers know where he is.
Maybe that's not a common example but if the encrypting argument is due to people with scanners flooding to crime scenes etc... exactly how many of these folks can afford $800 bucks for a P25 Type 2 capable scanner, spend weeks and maybe months programming it so they can race to scenes and interfere with police activity.
Look at neighboring Kaufman County. Amazing P25-2 system with no encryption. I wonder how many folks have been arrested at a crime scene in possession of an $800 Dollar P25 capable scanner.
How about zero.
So encrypt for sensitive, surveillance, internal affairs, stakeouts etc... as these operations should be but leave Dispatch Channels open so the few of us listening can know what's going on in our Communities.
Anyway, tell your Harris buddy thanks for selling Henderson County the encryption upgrade for every channel that is overkill and a waste of money.
wx5vhf
Member
You are preaching to the choir. I agree with you completely. My friend whould agree with you also. He is not the one that sold it to them. He installs the equipment at the sites. The truth of the matter is that probably not much sales skills needed to be used. I am pretty sure that the Sheriff was the one wanting the encryption.
