Victoria County (TEXAS) $8.5 million New Digital Radio System

[army_scanner]

Chief Deputy Terry Simons with the Victoria County Sheriff's Office said the new system will switch from the aging analog system now used to a digital system. "This is the cutting edge where communications is today."

Unfortunately for scanner listeners, Simons said all law enforcement traffic will be scrambled. He said fire department and administrative radio traffic will not be.

"A lot of stuff put across the air is classified or at least sensitive," he said.

Read Entire Store Here -- Victoria Advocate | Victoria County issues record debt of $8.5 million

What is your thoughts about this new system for Victoria County?

 

[pacrat551]

You will see this more and more..."Standards based Shared systems" There is no federal mandate to go P25 by 2015, however Texas has in place that all mutual aid channels must be P25 by 2015.

Caldwell County just switched to P25 system linked to the Austin/Travis Regional system. Bastrop County will follow suit sometime spring followed by Lee County by the end of 2010

 

[davidbond21]

"A lot of stuff put across the air is classified or at least sensitive," he said.

I love this as a justification for encryption whenever I see it. It's basically implying that they have gone for years and years and years transmitting classified or sensitive law enforcement information openly to anyone that can hear it, while at the very same time encryption and other forms of secure communications existed and were readily available. Whether or not they could afford it at the time is another story, but if that is the story, then they are acknowledging that they took no measures to safe guard these so called sensitive or classified communications when they knew there was a need for it. I mean, my local police don't have encryption, and they still manage to communicate things too sensitive for broadcast over the airwaves using a cell phone. Or they use MDTs. My county's deputies, before they switched to P25(and got encryption ability), would tell dispatch things like, "This is unit so and so on special assignment, I can't say the location I'm heading to over the radio, but my starting mileage is 12345. I'll call you with the details when I'm 10-23(arrived on scene)."

I'd almost rather have these chiefs and spokespeople just come right out and say the truth: "hey, we're buying new radios and a system, and we don't want people listening to us, so we're going to go ahead and purchase the equipment necessary for encryption as well(which P25 makes real easy to do)." Common sense tells us that if there was a true, real reason for encryption because of the pressing need to transmit sensitive or classified information over the radio and that information couldn't be communicated via any other means, then this police department would have taken steps long ago to address this problem. That they elected not to, tells us how pressing the need really is(because if they won't be making the switch until June, then they are saying they will continue to transmit communications that require encryption in an unsecured form until then, even if it's to the detriment of the department or officers safety).

 

[rattlerbb01]

I would think that if people in a encryption mecca, such as Williamson County is now, and Victoria may be, cared enough about this, communicating the misinformation and deception to the local paper would be a good step in the right direction. News outlets are terrified of encryption on any public safety channel, especially the dispatch channels. I would think they would be very happy to at the least post a letter to the editor from an informed person who wants to shed some light on the subject. LE Administrators are getting bolder and bolder about encrypting everything to keep the public in the dark, and they just love giving lame excuses for doing so. The sad thing is, the general public is none the wiser and so quick to back the badge that they let the wool get pulled over their eyes.

 

[SCPD]

Our Tax payer dollars - hard at work!

 

[FlashSWT]

What is your thoughts about this new system for Victoria County?

I think it is one more reason I'm glad I didn't take a job in Victoria.

This brings up a question I first had with the sudden change of Williamson County going almost totally encrypted once they joined the Austin P25 system.

Is the change because P25 trunked systems just make it that much cheaper or easier to go to encryption (is only costs $1 per user with P25 instead of $10 per user on analog)? Or does it cost the same as on a Type II system but agencies are just deciding, "if we're spending $7 million anyways for the new system we might as well tack on an extra $1 million for encryption."

.

 

[StatuSChecKa]

Well it is atleast neat that the FD will not be scrambled. I wonder if it is like that everywhere else?

Alot of what they say on Police Channels end up being public record right? Via Newpapers, Press Releases, Names listed on Jail Websites, and ect.

 

[RodStrong]

I think it is one more reason I'm glad I didn't take a job in Victoria.

This brings up a question I first had with the sudden change of Williamson County going almost totally encrypted once they joined the Austin P25 system.

Is the change because P25 trunked systems just make it that much cheaper or easier to go to encryption (is only costs $1 per user with P25 instead of $10 per user on analog)? Or does it cost the same as on a Type II system but agencies are just deciding, "if we're spending $7 million anyways for the new system we might as well tack on an extra $1 million for encryption.".

It actually can be quite cheap, depending on what radio they use and what encryption type. Can be less than 10 dollars per radio.

 

[mfn002]

Hold on a minute here. I've heard officials in the past confuse clear digital with encryption. It might be that FD traffic will be analog and LE traffic digital, and the chief thought that because the signal was digital, it was encrypted.

 

[Ensnared]

From my perspective, having been on the triage end of adult female offenders, Williamson county has some possible compromised officers. Barry Cooper, a former drug task force officer turned cannabis advocate, helped sting an officer in Liberty Hill. Since then, he has been arrested on repeated occasions for misdemeanor violations. The Texas Rangers have been involved in this fiasco. Barry did a sting on Odessa PD as well. Hence, the hammer came down on him. So, Williamson county might have a good reason for encryption, to hide their recalcitrant ways.