Lancaster County votes for Police encryption

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Tommahawk

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Audiodave1

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My home stomping grounds (Neffsville) which I can monitor from here just north of Wilmington DE.

It's quite a sad day.

I don't listen every day so when/as dispatch gets strapped ENC please submit to the database and we will update the TG's...
 

Septa3371CSX1

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It's a sad day for all of us that listen to the Lancaster County system as some of us have listened to the county for over 40 or 50 years or more.

We have been given a reprieve till approximately November. The question remains how long till the fire side switches....

LancasterOnline

( Sent from Lancaster County Commissioners order police transmissions encrypted, blocking scanners for public, media | Local News | lancasteronline.com )

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Reading through the comments I can tell many people don't understand what is being lost because they likely aren't scanner listeners. These are the same people who will say stuff like the police should be encrypted and then ask you what all the sirens are about when something happens. They won't understand what it really means for everything to be encrypted until something happens and they can't find out in a timely manner.

This whole thing about giving the media radios to monitor the encrypted channels sounds like it would be counteractive to what the head of the police chiefs' association has mentioned as reasons for encryption. I also love how he claims reporters have gotten to the scene of calls before first responders and then backtracks saying he can't recall an incident where the media interfered at a scene. I will say there are more "news agencies" out there with the advent of Internet and social media-based news sites (i.e. town patches). Many of these entities are the ones reporting things before they have all the facts and before any official releases information.

Also while it is unlikely between now and November that those in power change their mind there is still time to make an attempt to keep things open. Perhaps the best way to go about it is with the media and trying to reign everyone in to be more responsible and then maybe things will change.
 

royldean

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And with the Governor about to sign Senate Bill 560 (makes police audio and video recordings, ie dash and body cams, non-public records), just one more step to complete government secrecy.

I encourage anybody in Lancaster county to attend a commissioners meeting and voice your displeasure. I did it myself in Montgomery County, but our former commissioner (and now state AG) Shapiro just smiled and patronized me with "hmm, we'll look into that".
 

DeKP

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Having lived in several states over the past years and just recently moving back to PA from Florida. I find it ridiculous that a primarily rural county needs to be encrypted. Same with Adams county and others. Total waste of taxpayer dollars.
 

Tommahawk

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Having lived in several states over the past years and just recently moving back to PA from Florida. I find it ridiculous that a primarily rural county needs to be encrypted. Same with Adams county and others. Total waste of taxpayer dollars.
What was stated by LCWC Is true though. The system was built on the principal that encryption and other features could be added with no additional cost except touching the equipment which is done in house by the LCWC radio maintenance staff. Encryption is already ACTIVE on the system already. Police and EMS are already encrypted

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N3NMJ

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It was bad enough when they went to this horrible digital system making all my equipment obsolete and having to buy new. I'm on the road all day and listen for activity to stay away from so I can avoid traffic and delays. Also listen when family members are on duty. To me it will be a huge loss of info I use on a daily basis.
 

KC3ECJ

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What was stated by LCWC Is true though. The system was built on the principal that encryption and other features could be added with no additional cost except touching the equipment which is done in house by the LCWC radio maintenance staff. Encryption is already ACTIVE on the system already. Police and EMS are already encrypted

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What part of EMS is encrypted? Dispatch? Hospital? Everything?
 

whsbuss

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Lets face it.... it won't be long before ALL public safety radio traffic will be encrypted.
 

kmisk

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We all know an unmonitorable system such as Open Sky didn't prevent the unfortunate ambush of a PSP Trooper a few years ago.
 

whsbuss

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We all know an unmonitorable system such as Open Sky didn't prevent the unfortunate ambush of a PSP Trooper a few years ago.

Very good point. But those in charge don't care. They want a closed system for publicity reasons
 

Septa3371CSX1

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Very good point. But those in charge don't care. They want a closed system for publicity reasons

That's exactly why they want the encryption on everything. The more I think about what was said in the article the more I realize the police chiefs' association basically wants to control what the media reports. Many of these chiefs are under pressure from leaders in their municipalities (both public and private) to keep certain things out of the news that would give the town a negative image. Encryption forces everyone to rely on official releases for information to use in reporting events.

Also to go with that Lancaster County is a big tourist area. Looking through the RRDB I've noticed many heavy tourist areas (Orlando for example) have all law enforcement encrypted to help them keep up appearances. Once the encryption goes into affect in Lancaster County expect to hear less crime reports and more cover ups of what really happened.
 

whsbuss

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That's exactly why they want the encryption on everything. The more I think about what was said in the article the more I realize the police chiefs' association basically wants to control what the media reports. Many of these chiefs are under pressure from leaders in their municipalities (both public and private) to keep certain things out of the news that would give the town a negative image. Encryption forces everyone to rely on official releases for information to use in reporting events.

Also to go with that Lancaster County is a big tourist area. Looking through the RRDB I've noticed many heavy tourist areas (Orlando for example) have all law enforcement encrypted to help them keep up appearances. Once the encryption goes into affect in Lancaster County expect to hear less crime reports and more cover ups of what really happened.

Well stated. Talk about transparency within government....
 

radio3353

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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
 

tbrewbaker

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One thing the county commissioners and police chiefs forget to consider is how much citizens help them when they can hear a call and can help to locate a suspect. Extra eyes are more helpful than harm in these situations especially in residential areas where someone is being chased through back yards, etc. I have heard many calls in my area where suspects were located hiding in a back yard were citizens were able to help locate a suspect because they heard where they were being chased. As far as privacy for the officers, they have been using cell phones for years when they want to keep information private, so about all we hear now are calls for traffic accidents and other types of public assistance calls. Encrypting all calls will keep citizens from being able to avoid getting into a police situation because they won't know where to avoid an active police incident.
 

Septa3371CSX1

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One thing the county commissioners and police chiefs forget to consider is how much citizens help them when they can hear a call and can help to locate a suspect. Extra eyes are more helpful than harm in these situations especially in residential areas where someone is being chased through back yards, etc. I have heard many calls in my area where suspects were located hiding in a back yard were citizens were able to help locate a suspect because they heard where they were being chased. As far as privacy for the officers, they have been using cell phones for years when they want to keep information private, so about all we hear now are calls for traffic accidents and other types of public assistance calls. Encrypting all calls will keep citizens from being able to avoid getting into a police situation because they won't know where to avoid an active police incident.

The police will say that the public can follow them on social media where they will share locations of active incidents and any associated road closures. Problem with that is while it may work for someone who is at home or otherwise stationary, it isn't practical for those driving and moving around. It's much easier to monitor their radio comms in those instances as you'll be much less likely to wreck your car and cause harm to yourself and others.
 

ekim223

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Lets not forget, not everyone is into that social media crap. Nor do I have a so called smart phone. My kids understand that texting me is a message to call them when I have a chance. Not a complete conversation.
 
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