Ottawa county Kansas KSICS

[NR0W]

As of the end of September/first of October Ottawa co went 800 on the KSICS system. It should be great for the county should fill in a lot of dead spots. The fire departments are also going 800. When the SO went they are encrypted and the FD well stay in the open. I asked the undersheriff if the encryption was permanent and he said yes and it's was mandated that the state would be encrypted also first part of 2024. I listen to several surrounding countries including Saline, when that mandated date arrives does that mean that all the open counties that are on the 800 system will go encrypted? It will get awful quiet on the system if that's the way it's going to be.

 

[PVPD730]

As of the end of September/first of October Ottawa co went 800 on the KSICS system. It should be great for the county should fill in a lot of dead spots. The fire departments are also going 800. When the SO went they are encrypted and the FD well stay in the open. I asked the undersheriff if the encryption was permanent and he said yes and it's was mandated that the state would be encrypted also first part of 2024. I listen to several surrounding countries including Saline, when that mandated date arrives does that mean that all the open counties that are on the 800 system will go encrypted? It will get awful quiet on the system if that's the way it's going to be.

There is no mandate in existence that requires full encryption be used on public safety talkgroups. DHS released a memo in 2018-2019 (I'll have look around for it and will attach if I find it) which states that P25 law enforcement radios must be AES encryption capable by early 2024. There's no DHS requirement for LE agencies to be strapped with full-time encryption. The radios just need to have the capability, and of course agencies have the freedom to use any amount of encryption they wish. A lot of LE agencies have misinterpreted the memo and are telling people that full encryption for law enforcement is federally mandated or required which is simply not the case.

That said, individual radio system administrators/managers can mandate full-encryption if they so choose. As far as KSICS is concerned, there is no mandate for full-time encryption on law enforcement talkgroups. None. The undersheriff (like any other agencies top brass) sounds misinformed. They're choosing to encrypt because they feel the need to do so which is their prerogative.

Here are a few specific requirements set forth by the KSICS system administrators:

• All talkgroups will be assigned in the MSO (Mobile Switching Office) as clear or secure on July 1, 2024.
• All encrypted talkgroups must be aligned with the State encryption template by January 1, 2024.
• Regional AES talkgroups will be strapped encrypted only.
• Existing encrypted talkgroups in use (before the 2024 deadline) can use ADP, AES, or DES encryption. Any new encrypted talkgroups created thereafter will be AES only.
• All talkgroups on KSICS will be marked in the system as in the clear only unless talkgroups and CKR (Common Key Reference) are provided to the system administrator by January 1, 2024.

Those are just a few of the requirements. There are others (see the attached source documents).

 

[firefive76]

There is no mandate in existence that requires full encryption be used on public safety talkgroups.

In late 2022, an FBI CJIS security policy went into effect regarding encrypting CJIS/PII, including via radio. Therefore, technically there IS a mandate requiring public safety to encrypt their radio freqs/talkgroups, if they air that type of information over them.

 

[PVPD730]

In late 2022, an FBI CJIS security policy went into effect regarding encrypting CJIS/PII, including via radio. Therefore, technically there IS a mandate requiring public safety to encrypt their radio freqs/talkgroups, if they air that type of information over them.

Ah, I thought that was a state-by-state policy (i.e, California and a few others). I found the policy document you referenced (CJIS Security Policy 2022 v5.9.1 | Federal Bureau of Investigation) and stand corrected. Some agencies have alternate/secondary encrypted talkgroups to disseminate CJIS/PII which is a great balance (I think), most don't due to being understaffed. Many agencies just use their primary dispatch groups to disseminate that info, which stands to reason why they're encrypting. In my area, we were told it was for other reasons but that's a prohibited discussion on this platform.