the only pd encryptions should be SWAT, Mayors Detail, IA....stuff like that, not regular pd channels
I disagree. Police operations such as - responding to a burglary - severe incident / emergency. Events that give the bad guys a heads up, as far as response time, number of officers showing up, type of officer ( SWAT trained officer / K9 ).
Communications that contain victims names, idenditys of some individuals ( not all traffic can go over the cell network due to structure and geography constraints ).
And you don't want people showing up at a disaster ( large fire / explosion / "Active shooter" ) , cause they heard a location , name of a business, on the "Scanner."
Some encrypted comms, can also prevent some a conversation / broadcast, from being misconstrued, misintepreted by the "Scanner Folk" , preventing rumors, false information, unnecessary panic and fright, or distress of an entire family due to a terrible event ( shooting , car wreck, fire, explosion..ect..ect ).
The topic of radio encryption is a frequent topic here at RR.COM. Myself, having about 18 years of Public Safety experience, I see a need for encryption, among ALL public safety agencys. Industrial settings, government contractors, and Governmebt installations.
Upgrading or adding to a current radio system, these days is not cheap. Setting up a system, checking and testing it, working out the bugs, fine tuning it, maybe add a new antenna, and or repeater..takes money and time. But, it benefits the agency(s) involved, as well as government, and or, agency leaders, by preventing sensitive information from being unnesessarily released , and can quite possibly keep important information, sensitive events and occurrances... " In House." Situations from Uprisings, riots, demostrations, a serial prowler/ rapist / murderer / arsonist, would be denied " Intelligence informartion". Someone whom has committed themselves to being a professional robber, or burgler..would all be denied information from normally, what would be routine, and unencrypted comms. Numer of units reposonding, response time, location of random patrols....locations of probable occurance / event ( Arson, robbery, rape ). Plus..If one of the units was in civilian dress, and or vehicle ; it would prevent the bad guy(s) from seing / noticing the special officer / vehicle.
Encryption can also prevent someone from illegally broadcasting on a Public Safety frequency. "Close Call" and "Signal Staker" scanners that absorb that information ( Transmit freq, receive freq, Pl's / CG's) and or a simple frequency counter. UHF is how much of a freq spread between the transmit and recieve freqs? Hmmm.
I fully belive that Police Officer safety is of the utmost importance. being prior U.S military, I was taught about COMSEC ( Communications Security = language, speakinging, encryption , phone and radio ) and the effects is has. Denying a "potential threat" information to be used against you, your country, as well as the Untied States Government. The same holds true in civilan life.
Firefighters broadcasting how much water they used on a fire, number of responding units, number of hoselines used, location of structure attack, damage to the structure, and the important one....Those hurt, or those whom are victims ( deceased ). Not exactly super secret information, till you find out it could be an arson, and the arsonist is listening to a scanner a few blocks away. Or the news crew shows up, and questions the Fire Departmetn leadership about the fire, BASED on scanner radio traffic. Worse - legal action. My opinion is that there is one documentation and one documentation only....The written report. Even news video / surveillance video / security video, can be misconstrued or misintepreted. News cameras filiming a Paramedic yelling at a person in near cardiac arrest, while the victim is in his back yard.... the Paramedic screaming at the victim as he is intubating him, could be misconstrued. As in my education and training..The hearing is the last thing to go before becoming a fatality.
Public Safety radio traffic can be falsely intepreted....Especially to the untrained ( L/E - Fire / EMS ), or the unknowing. It can be twisted, turned around, and if done properly...used for ones personal benefit. The written document should be the document used to anaylize, critique, question..a particular event, occasion, emergency. Events on the incident scene change ( Fire / Car wreck / shooting ) , and those of us whom have been doing this for awhile, know that nothing is set in stone on a scene. The DOA in the car, may not be the only one. There was a person ejected, and they are found 60 yards from the scene of the auto accident. The Press, citizens hear of only one fatality....reporting that tidbit on the scanner. Come court time, the radio traffic is replayed in court..when actually there were two patients. Oppps...YOUR radio traffic was nto entirely accurate cause incident scenes change. And at times they change drastically.
You hear a fire on the scanner. It is an storage building. You turn the scanner off, and go to the dinner table to eat dinner with your family. You play board games for " Family Night" and afterwards, settle in to watch the 11:00 PM news. The news reports that the storage building was next to a residence, and it causes teh residence and two other housees to go up in flames ( Exposure ) , causing the evacuation of almost an entire small town block..cause three houses. YOUR police scanner traffic was WRONG, adn you assumed you had the correct info. Had it been as bad as reported on the news, you would have stayed next to the scanner and listened. And it can work the other way around too. A serious event, that was not as bad as reported.
A man walks down the street, and sees a man leave a convenience store with blood on his chest. He dials 9-1-1 stating there has been a shooting at a convenience store. 9-1-1 dispatches police, a rescue ambulance, adn an ambulance. The Police Supervisor orders particular units to set up a perimeter around the block of the convenicence store, so the shooter does not get away. Police arrive. The broadcast is that there has been no shooting, the man cut himself on some glass. Ooops. False radio traffic. Traffic that can be misconstrued, provide misinformation in the legal community, cause unnecessary panic, and or anger, wrongly accuse someone ; group of people.
There is a need for radio encryption among Public Safety agencys. I believe that. Denying the public information that - They need not know, compromises scene / officer security. Prevents the necessary details of an event prematurely, helps in prevents an unjust public alarm / worried family members, and it protects sensitive information..which may in the future be used in a court of law. It protects scene, location integrity, helps prevent the accumulation of a large crowd, bystanders...further endangering the civilan population. Prevents patrol schedules, security check locations from being public knowledge. Helps with the overall safety of Public Safety Professionals ( Fire, L/E, EMS ).
Just because you cannot hear an encrypted radio transmission means that you need to get frustrated. It may be information that is = Not relevenat to you anyway. Is private and sensitive in nature. Details events that do not to be disclose at that moment. Helps protect the identity(s) of victims.
FF - Medic !!!
