Orange County Encryption

[seligman]

I'm familiar with the encryption of law enforcement agencies in Orange County.

Many conflicting stories exist as to the origins of the countywide encryption. I've discussed this topic with several county employees who I trust and are well-connected on the matter, and even their versions differ by a large amount. One such story involves a county employee whose office was down the hallway from corrupt, convicted felon, ex-Sheriff Mike Carona. He overheard Carona on the phone receiving instructions on which talkgroups were "safe" for him and Haidl to communicate on privately. Needless to say, the belief that Carona was instrumental in pushing countywide encryption is one such story.

What other stories have you heard? What do you believe?

 

[Fireboat03]

Well Orange County had a backup plan in place if the community at the time almost 15 years ago would of filed a lawsuit again the county to keep certain talkgroups open. Since nobody made a stink or took legal action The County of Orange Encrypted all of LE and it was a done deal forever. No turning back the clock now.

 

[Markb]

This horse has been beaten pretty badly over the years. Corruption or not, Carona and Haidl are long gone, so the original reason for encrypting is a moot point.
Encryption is now affordable by just about any agency and Motorola along with other vendors are ramming it down the throats of buyers under the guise of privacy from people streaming radio traffic on the internet.
As Fireboat said, encryption is here to stay. We can cry and kick and scream all we want, but it won't change anything.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Mikek]

The county was requested by the OC Chiefs of Police and Sheriff's Associate to upgrade the radio system. The OCCOPSA and it's subcommittees vetted vendors and heard their pitches. Motorola was selling encryption, and the members of the OCCOPSA liked the idea, selected the vendor and funded the system. The county delivered what their customer asked for. That's the origin...

As for your story about Corona pushing encryption - the contract for the CCCS was signed in 1996 and included encryption. That's 2 years before Corona was elected Sheriff.

 

[marcotor]

As for your story about Corona pushing encryption - the contract for the CCCS was signed in 1996 and included encryption. That's 2 years before Corona was elected Sheriff.

It's not exactly news some posters never let facts get into the way of a nice "corrupt officials push encryption" narrative/rant

 

[kayn1n32008]

Motorola along with other vendors are ramming it down the throats of buyers under the guise of privacy from people streaming radio traffic on the internet.

Nobody is 'ramming it down the throats of buyers' here. Streaming, rightly or wrongly, is as legit a reason to encrypt comms. Here in Canada, we had 2 major events, where streaming law enforcement comms were front and centre. Cst. Styles death that the media played over and over and the incident this last year with the guy that killed 3 RCMP members. While the the third one was not a streaming issue, unsecured comms caused members to not want to broadcast stuff because their comms were not secure.

As long as folks just feel that they have the 'right' to stream agencies comms, we will continue to see these agencies encrypt. Heck even around where I live, municipal('By-Law') enforcement is going 'secure' by using encryption when they go from analogue to DMR.

Nobody is 'ramming down anyone's throat' streamers are doing the work for Motorola, Harris, Kenwood and the rest.

 

[krokus]

As long as folks just feel that they have the 'right' to stream agencies comms, we will continue to see these agencies encrypt. Heck even around where I live, municipal('By-Law') enforcement is going 'secure' by using encryption when they go from analogue to DMR.

Nobody is 'ramming down anyone's throat' streamers are doing the work for Motorola, Harris, Kenwood and the rest.

That is a sore subject, along with delays.

Sent via Tapatalk

 

[oracavon]

My recollection stems from my involvement with various aspects of OC law enforcement in the 70's through the 90's. I was there when they went from the old analog 45 Mhz channels to the analog 460 Mhz channels, and when the fire agencies went to the current analog trunked system. The original plan at that time was for the LE agencies to switch over to the analog trunked system after it had been thoroughly ironed out by the fire agencies. However, before that happened, there were increasing incidents with unauthorized people transmitting on the PD channels and interfering with calls in progress. Some of those incidents were reported in the press. In fact, some of the perpetrators were actually caught and prosecuted.

Meanwhile, technology marched on, and by the time the PD's were ready to join the trunked system, digital transmission with encryption became affordable. I believe that the agencies saw this as a way to (1) go to the latest technology using their existing trunked system, and (2) to lock out the people who were not only monitoring (which they never really cared about previously - I know from experience), but also to lock out the technically capable people who had been hacking into their communications. And so it was decided.

As far as all of the LE agencies using encryption, all government radios in the county are controlled, programmed and serviced by the County under contract to the Orange County Communications Department (aka Control One), going back to the old 45 Mhz analog days (and earlier). So the new system with encryption was basically a package deal - all of the LE agencies would use the same thing for consistency and intercommunications capability. None of the LE agencies had any compelling reason to deliberately opt out of encryption if it was being offered as the standard LE package for all agencies.

The transition to the new system with encryption began in 2000, and has been in place ever since. So the decision was made long before streaming and mobile apps became widely available, and they did not factor into the decision for OC.

 

[KB6KGX]

Good info. I never knew the real reason why they did it. The Carona/Haidl story makes sense, but now I know that the “deal was sealed” shortly after I moved to Huntington Beach in 1994 (I moved away in 2004). I loved listening to HBPD as I liked to know what was going on in my home town. One day I’m listening to the PD looking for a naked burglar in our neighborhood, the next day — BAM! Nothing. Tumbleweeds. I really only care about Fire, anyway, so it wasn’t such a loss to me. When I’m on the road, I mainly listen to CHP which, fortunately, still uses low-band.

 

[KB6KGX]

The transition to the new system with encryption began in 2000, and has been in place ever since.

Yep. That’s about the time I noticed I could no longer hear anything. Thanks.

 

[mikewazowski]

I'm not sure what this has to do with Uniden?

I'd move it to the correct regional forum but I know of at least 3 Orange Counties in the US and I'm sure there's more.

 

[RadioDaze]

One day I’m listening to the PD looking for a naked burglar in our neighborhood, the next day — BAM! Nothing.

I ALREADY TOLD YOU ALL: I LOCKED MYSELF OUTSIDE WHEN I WENT TO GET THE PAPER! Geeesh. How many times are people going to keep bringing this up?!?!

 

[mikewazowski]

Based on the location of some of the posters, I've moved it to the California forum.

If it needs to be moved into one of the subforums, somebody can report it.