LA City Council asks LAPD about Encryption Options

Status
Not open for further replies.

LAflyer

Global DB Admin
Moderator
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
1,827
Location
SoCal
Seems to have gone below the radar, however back on March 2nd, the LA City Council passed a motion recommending the Public Safety Committee study and work with the LAPD on protecting its radio communications.

Language of the motion drafted by Council member Englander (who also happens to chairs the Public Safety Committee) was as follows:


MOTION

One of the most widespread advances in consumer technology relates to smartphones and
the availability of mobile applications. Mobile apps installed on smartphones have made certain
existing technologies more accessible and portable, while also providing the same functionality.

An example is with mobile apps that broadcast police frequencies. Police scanner apps
are among the most popular apps in the online marketplace. However, the increased availability
and portability of police scanners may have some consequences for responding to criminal
activity. Persons attempting to evade police may find this technology especially useful.

Under state law it is a crime to use police scanners to evade arrest or to assist another
person in evading arrest, but this is not a sufficient deterrent since it is likely difficult to prove in
the court of law, To ensure that the Police Department is monitoring these advances in consumer
technology, this issue should be examined further to possibly identify better methods of
encryption and/or more secure communication methods.

I THEREFORE MOVE that the Police Department be instructed to report on how radio
and other mobile communications are encrypted and how to better secure the Department's
methods of communication.

=
 

karldotcom

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Messages
1,850
Location
Burbank, CA
27% of angelenos speak English at home.... does this guy really think they are all sitting around listening to LAPD on their iPhones?

That being said...you know the next system will like be unmonitorable....even though LA RICS is dead in the water.....
 

gman65

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 15, 2005
Messages
68
Location
Woodland Hills, CA
IMHO LAPD needs the option to have some encrypted frequencies. They have none at this point. However, by leaving primary dispatch frequencies unencrypted they allow the public to have a glimpse into what is really happening in their communities if they are so inclined. I think we will see cities like Pasadena end up building a wall between their department and thier comunities. Time will tell.

Having said that, I still have mixed feelings about the scanner phone apps. I think the difference is the feeds become a product provided by others rather than something monitored over the air waves.

Personnaly I think the audio feeds should have a delay instituted by the feed providers. This should minimize the concerns about officer and operational safety that departments and politicians have while providing an outlet for the information. Otherwise we'll find that more agencies will go encrypted and ultimately the FCC will change the rules.
 

JoeyC

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
3,523
Location
San Diego, CA
LOL! :D Clearly the talk of encryption, streaming and smartphone apps in the same sentence is utter nonsense. One does not lead to the other, no way, no how! :roll:
 

Radio_Lady

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
474
Location
Off the Air

LAflyer

Global DB Admin
Moderator
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
1,827
Location
SoCal
IMHO LAPD needs the option to have some encrypted frequencies. They have none at this point.

LAPD does have encryption capability - atleast on some frequencies. Try listening to their Professional Standards Bureau (internal affairs), and some of the narcotics and investigation frequencies. PSB is virtually always encrypted.
 

karldotcom

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Messages
1,850
Location
Burbank, CA
They have a $400 million budget hole, proposed layoffs and the lowest crime rate since Adam-12 patrolled the City and they worry about this? They should be more worried about what frequencies they are going to move to in 9 years.
 

jrholm

Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2006
Messages
580
Location
Big Bear
The final band for LA-RICS hasn't been decided yet. Dead in the water makes it sound like the project is killed. Reality is it's an active project. Like all govt. projects it is a lengthy hicup filled process.
 

drsl2000

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Messages
68
Location
GG, California
LOL! :D Clearly the talk of encryption, streaming and smartphone apps in the same sentence is utter nonsense. One does not lead to the other, no way, no how! :roll:

You can’t expect politicians to be smart about this. They have logically linked the online streams to bad guys evading arrest; bad logic but that is how they think. That linkage may never go away (especially for a politician as they are never wrong).

Not the first time the streams have brought negative attention to this hobby.
The streams should be shut down!
 

dgower

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
162
Location
Long Beach, CA
T-band licenses are not "frozen", they just won't allow any expansion that would expand beyond already licensed "footprints". LASD/LARICS licensed the TV Channel 15 frequencies on every mountaintop they could think of at 1kw.
 

karldotcom

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Messages
1,850
Location
Burbank, CA
did I mis read this?





For the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) Joint Powers Authority (JPA), the T-band issue, along with comments from National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) officials earlier this month asking Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) grant recipients to hold off on Long Term Evolution (LTE) equipment purchases, have put the project in a holding pattern, said Patrick Mallon, LA-RICS executive director.
The LA-RICS JPA completed the evaluation process for its procurement, which includes mission-critical voice in the UHF T-band and 700 MHz public-safety broadband systems, and held its first meeting with the prevailing vendor. However, based on the NTIA request, the JPA suspended negotiations with the vendor but hopes to restart them.
“We’re in a hold,” Mallon said. “We are evaluating our options before we move forward with our project. We haven’t made a decision yet on how to address the T-band issue.”
 

Code20Photog

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 29, 2010
Messages
269
Location
North of Rock, South of Hard Place.

gman65

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 15, 2005
Messages
68
Location
Woodland Hills, CA
LA seems to always want massive systems and entities that are so big they can't do anything well. This system should be scoped back into a county wide mutual aid system to start. Smaller entities can move to it completely if desired. But the big agencies can retain their own systems and include programming to use the countywide TRS. The buildout can begin small and demonstrate whether the tech can work. If it is designed for modular expansion it could then grow over time to suit the needs of more agencies. However, I think it is still in the interest of the 4 biggest agencies (LASD, LACFD, LAPD & LAFD) to control their own destiny with their own core radio systems.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top