Listen while you can

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brownlab

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A Safer City!

I'm guessing that is going to be the case. Normal day to day district dispatching will be encrypted but they'll keep Citywide in the clear so citizens and maybe the media can still monitor the BOLO's and major incidents after an Officer is already on scene. Back when DC went digital, they continued to simulcast on the VHF Citywide frequency for at least a year if I remember right. I guess Citywide is better than nothing.

Jason

Yes, DC is a safer city today now that radio enthuses and street corner punks can no longer monitor the various MPD frequencies BUT we still have the DCFD/EMS and yes, they seem to be keeping City Wide MPD Channel open (TG 1-16) which is coming off the FD Control Channel 852.6375. Since I never split the DC Police and Fire channels, it was kind of enjoyable to monitor just fire and ems along with some occasional MPD City Wide traffic. A lot of the MPD district traffic was just typical service calls such as domestics, trouble with the neighbors and barking dogs. I really will not miss any of that and if anything major does happens, we should hear about it on the CW channel. Yes, it is better than nothing (like Jacksonville Fla) and I think Fire/EMS is more interesting anyhow (lol)
 

brownlab

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The link for DCMPD is still there but no sound. It was just dispatch calls anyway so it wasn't that exciting but still...makes you wonder how much longer all departments with be encrypted :(

Washington DC Metropolitan Police Live Scanner Radio Feed

I am not one who believes that all systems will one day be encrypted. Many jurisdictions do not see the monitoring of the police and fire departments as a problem. Although one may think that after 9/11 all major jurisdictions would have upgraded their radio systems to digital that is not the case. There is still a high number of analog systems out there, some trunked, some not. Most of the 9/11 money is gone now and public safety budgets are tight. It is difficult to ask taxpayers to pay for new radio systems or upgrade systems that are only 5 years old especially in states that are laying off public employees such as teachers, police officers and firefighters. I believe the larger issue will be the jurisdictions upgrading to P25 Phase 2 and smaller places going to a Mototrbo system. Will companies make scanners that will monitor these systems? As usual it is difficult to gauge what is going on in the real world from here in DC. Every jurisdiction in the metro area seems to have the latest and greatest public safety communication equipment. I still feel that Chief Lanier overacted when she found some bad guys with scanner apps on their cell phones. The MPD is a relatively well funded police department and my guess is that she had no trouble finding the funds in her budget to code her 2 or 3 thousand odd radios. Not every department has that luxury. I do not know the cost of this project but even if it was only a a few thousand dollars, the money could have been better spent.
 
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jasonpeoria911

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Peoria, IL
I'm starting to wonder if Citywide is still in the clear. Been listening to the online feed and havn't heard a peep in the last 1.5 hours. Almost 10pm eastern now. The feed description said it's only scanning the CW TG now cuz the rest is encrypted. I'll keep listening a bit longer, I know they should be going thru shift change soon and the Crime Scene Techs usually check in on the radio.

Jason
 

steve888

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Thanks

I am not one who believes that all systems will one day be encrypted. Many jurisdictions do not see the monitoring of the police and fire departments as a problem. Although one may think that after 9/11 all major jurisdictions would have upgraded their radio systems to digital that is not the case. There is still a high number of analog systems out there, some trunked, some not. Most of the 9/11 money is gone now and public safety budgets are tight. It is difficult to ask taxpayers to pay for new radio systems or upgrade systems that are only 5 years old especially in states that are laying off public employees such as teachers, police officers and firefighters. I believe the larger issue will be the jurisdictions upgrading to P25 Phase 2 and smaller places going to a Mototrbo system. Will companies make scanners that will monitor these systems? As usual it is difficult to gauge what is going on in the real world from here in DC. Every jurisdiction in the metro area seems to have the latest and greatest public safety communication equipment. I still feel that Chief Lanier overacted when she found some bad guys with scanner apps on their cell phones. The MPD is a relatively well funded police department and my guess is that she had no trouble finding the funds in her budget to code her 2 or 3 thousand odd radios. Not every department has that luxury. I do not know the cost of this project but even if it was only a a few thousand dollars, the money could have been better spent.

Yeh, I'm probably over-reacting a bit. I serioulsy doubt that all systems will one day be encrypted but I could see big cities with major crime problems perhaps making the same (bogus) argument that Lanier is making about officer safety in order to encrypt everything.

But, you are definitely right, budgets are extremely tight these days and the public would most likely not be willing to see their city government spend a ton of money on new radios when there are so many other pressing needs to be dealt with.

One of the earlier posts about cell phones being used to avoid the police is so accurate. Are they going to ban those, too? Fat chance.

I think I'll go ahead and order my PSR-800 and whatever will be will be...

Thanks for all of your insightful and knowledgeable comments on this board...I've learned a lot here in a very short time!
 

brownlab

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Yeh, I'm probably over-reacting a bit. I serioulsy doubt that all systems will one day be encrypted but I could see big cities with major crime problems perhaps making the same (bogus) argument that Lanier is making about officer safety in order to encrypt everything.

But, you are definitely right, budgets are extremely tight these days and the public would most likely not be willing to see their city government spend a ton of money on new radios when there are so many other pressing needs to be dealt with.

One of the earlier posts about cell phones being used to avoid the police is so accurate. Are they going to ban those, too? Fat chance.

I think I'll go ahead and order my PSR-800 and whatever will be will be...

Thanks for all of your insightful and knowledgeable comments on this board...I've learned a lot here in a very short time!
Thanks. Yes go ahead and purchase the PSR 800. 9 out of 10 people who purchased this radio seem to love it (that is my own poll based on reading the forums). In any event I love mine. After monitoring the MPD on Wednesday night (last hours of listen while you can) the 800 automatically stopped broadcasting the encrypted TGs. My Uniden XT was still trying and I will probably will have to reprogram it over the weekend. I still love my XT and use it when I am in Alexandria for the Northern VA stuff but if I want to monitor PG, which I do from time to time, or if I am out in Loudoun County, the 800 is my go to radio.
 

pasadenamd

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Mar 29, 2008
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Pasadena, MD
It seems that the city is trying to hide news happening in the city. The Fire Department had an EXCELLENT twitter feed that had the most up to date information available on fire/ems and sometimes police incidents (it was basically like listening to the scanner). It was run by the FD PIO. It was recently taken down and might be starting back up again after criticism by the media and the public.
 

northscan23

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I like the idea of police or fire deperaments using the internet(crimeapping.com etc) to inform citizens of incident). Many police or fire even have real time call lists on their websites. The Arlington (Texas?) police website is a great example.. Utilizing the internet is great alternative to scanners. It balances the publics right to know vs ofiicer safety and privacy of people involved in the calls. People can obtain through the websites the same basic information that you would hear over a scanner. If the the media can't force the police to decrypt their traffic, then urge them to utilize the latest technology to keep the community informed.
 

zerg901

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yup
Public information in your Nation’s Capital: Encryption of police communications, fire department Twitter feed goes dark, cameras seized by police. What does it all mean? A guest column by Gerald Baron. | STATter911.com - Dave Statter has many comments upon encryption, police arresting photographers, First Amendment, Court rulings, etc

For comments about "fire department thugs" - listen to the following program - http://firelawblog.com/2011/09/fire-service-court-radio/ - 3 fire service lawyers talk about the issue of filming emergency scenes (which is closely related to encryption issues of course)
 
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