TPS Will Remain Encrypted Post G20

[daveev]

As per a TPS officer friend of mine, the encrypted radios in use during the G20 will become the new standard for TPS after the summit. He also stated that encryption will be left on.

Can anyone else confirm this?

Dave

 

[pathalogical]

Oh well...guess that'll free up some memory for other stuff !

 

[exkalibur]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9700/5.0.0.344 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/332)

They aren't encrypted now. The radios used for G20 are UHF Kenwood ones anyway.

 

[exkalibur]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9700/5.0.0.344 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/332)

No disrespect to your friend, but most of them have no clue about the radio stuff. Those that do know, aren't talking.

 

[yorkphotog]

Indeed, excalibur.

On another note..... what we do know...
-there are new radios>> REU has been opening up boxes of Motorola's, turning them on, registering them, and putting them back in boxes. They've been turning on 10 radios at a time. Heard some chatter about this yesterday on the REU tg.
-apparently cops in 43 have been spotted with analog Moto APX7000's (perhaps a replacement for the already aging XTS fleet)

 

[Squishy]

I have a few TPS acquaintances; if I run into them I'll remember to ask and see how many different answers I can get.

While I am against encryption as a whole, it does make the most sense in high density urban areas. I have observed a sociological trend that seems to be related to Dunbar's Number. The more people you live around, the more bitter and jaded you tend to become towards society. Take a stroll in the small towns of Central Ontario and count the number of greetings, nods, and smiles you get. Then take a stroll in Toronto and contrast that with the number of averted eyes or even challenging stares you get.

In lower-density areas, you might have 95 helpful citizens with scanners and only 5 criminals. In higher-density areas like Toronto, that split may be more like 75/25. Those 25 may not be criminals pulling off a bank heist, but rather those waiting for personal information in order to commit identity theft or make harassing phone calls. Encryption makes no sense at all in a place like Orangeville, but an argument could be made for Toronto. I think the main reason we are seeing the smaller services go encrypted is due to sales pitches from radio manufacturers - smaller departments are more easily swayed by exaggerated issues of privacy than larger services like TPS or OPP with more stringent tendering processes.

 

[gary123]

Full time encryption is the way of the future. In large cities the added cost can be prohibitive especially whan you can be talking 5000 or more units. For smaller communities it isnt that bad especially for a fleet of 20 units or so. NRP has been encrypted for years and Durham has been on tellus (might as well be encrypted). Toronto has been lucky that it has taken this long to go encrypted, although the vast majority of the dispatching has been via the MWTs for quite a long time now.

I live in a small town our local PD is 100% encrypted. After making discret inquires I was effectivly told that what the police do is NOBODYs business. If the police need to divulge anything about their operations the will do at their discression and not at the publics. Finally I was told if I make any more inquires I will be charged with interfearing with the police and prosecuted to the full extent that the law allows.

Encryption is a two way street it keeps undesirables from monitoring info but it also keeps others with benign interests from monitoring also. I dont think that there will be a easy solution to this issue unless the local PD cooperates in some manner. Me im just going to monitor the local fire and transit channel along with the taxi service (all 11 cars). The community is small and anything of interest will pop up on these channels pretty quick.

 

[FoeHammer]

Would anyone be surprised if they left it on full time? Im surprised opp hasnt gone allready , with all the kids running around with the feed on their Iphones rubbing it in their faces saying "look what I can do !"

 

[exkalibur]

gary123...what exactly did you do to piss off the local PD to come back that harsh?

Then again, it isn't totally unheard of for a police service to investigate someone who's making inquires. In their eyes, two kinds of people have scanners; criminals and nerds.

 

[xlq771]

Maybe you should ask the big mouthed cop if he believes in civilian oversite of police. I would also file a formal complaint with the Complaints Commission.

 

[jellotor]

Mouthing off at a cop over something as trivial (to him) as radio encryption is a sure sign that you're in too deep with this hobby.

Police administration and politicians aren't going to take the say-so of a bunch of hobby-hungry scannerheads on whether the earth is going to open up and swallow Western Civilization whole if they 'dare' switch on encryption. They just aren't. Sorry.

The only--and I mean ONLY--time that the powers that be may reconsider their position is if the issue is made to be a legal or political one. So for everyone who is worried, hey, you have a right to be.

But maybe you should call your councillor/MP/MPP/lawyer instead and prepare to open yourself up to scrutiny.

'Cuz that's the way things are, don'tcha know?

 

[gary123]

gary123...what exactly did you do to piss off the local PD to come back that harsh?

Then again, it isn't totally unheard of for a police service to investigate someone who's making inquires. In their eyes, two kinds of people have scanners; criminals and nerds.

What I did was inquire as to the information on the winning tender for the hardware. I dint mention scanning or anytype of monitoring, I did ask why the dept needed encryption in such a small town.

 

[VA3JWO]

we, as civilians dezerve the right to hear what happens in the world today first- hand instead of having to watch sensored television news. as far as i see it, nobody should be watching the news... its all a bunch of bull**** . We should be getting the real facts
i dont mean to swear in the forum, BUT this is my personal opinion on the news today, and why i think scanner listening is a good hobby, and a scanner can almost help you in life/ death situations, and it can be fun ot listen to...

NOBODY HAS TO AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH MY OPINION... YOUR OPINION IS YOURS AND IT IS NONE OF MY BUISINESS

 

[newtoscanning]

-apparently cops in 43 have been spotted with analog Moto APX7000's (perhaps a replacement for the already aging XTS fleet)

"Aging" They're almost brand new, half the cops I see in 51 and 52 still have the MTX8000 let alone the xts5k.

 

[FoeHammer]

What I did was inquire as to the information on the winning tender for the hardware. I dint mention scanning or anytype of monitoring, I did ask why the dept needed encryption in such a small town.

I wouldnt call that "mouthing off"

Inquiring about , or having input about how your public servants operate & what they need to operate
isnt unreasonable & should be your right , after all whatever it is they are doing & whatever they are using to do it,...you paid for it....

 

[jellotor]

My point, opaque as it may have been, is that venting your spleen or asking nicely about encryption amounts to a hill of beans when you're talking to a cop. It's like complaining to the girl in the drive through about the cost of a coffee.

Write an angry letter.

 

[slicerwizard]

In lower-density areas, you might have 95 helpful citizens with scanners and only 5 criminals. In higher-density areas like Toronto, that split may be more like 75/25.

Sorry, but I have to call BS.

 

[EJB]

Sorry, but I have to call BS.

I second that!
I dont think it is as bad as you make it out to be.

I have lived all over the GTA and was on a friendly basis with my neighbours in Toronto, more so in the poorer areas (York) than the wealthy Forest Hill.

I currently live in an area that would not look out of place in St. Jamestown and have lived here for 2+ years.
I am friendly with a great deal of people here and enjoy making small talk and even stopping by for a beer on occasion.
We get along and we stick by each other, we all are in the same boat so to speak

Not to take it too far topic but have you ever lived here recently?

 

[Squishy]

I consider Mississauga to be my second home; I am frequently in the area.

I don't think I made it out to be bad at all. 75% good in Toronto vs. 95% good in small town Ontario? Seems about right to me - remember that we are considering the motives of those who would want to own scanners, not the whole population of the city.

 

[mikewazowski]

Guys, the topic is about TPS staying encrypted after the G20 is finished.

It's not about your perceived right to listen or how scanners actually help the police.

If you want to continue that line, please continue the discussion in the General Scanning forum.

I believe it's been beaten to death there at least once already.