I live in a very small town that has the Sheriff's Depart. encrypted. this is a copy of a letter I sent to the sheriff asking him to reconsider the encryption.
I have a new digital scanner and after 10 days of trying to figure out how to program it I finally have it up and running. I have noticed that you seem to have the Sheriff’s Department running on the Lane County Ops Channel which is encrypted (ie scrambled) I also noticed that there are 2 other channels, Lane County Dispatch & Lane County Tac.
I do understand the importance of having an encrypted channel, but I feel there is no need to have the daily operations (ie car stops, paper being served, weather watching, car crashes etc.) encrypted from people listening in on scanners. I understand and totally agree that Officer Safety is the first priority. I also understand that there are times for the use of an encrypted channel. (search warrants and surveillances) I know you have concerns with lookie lous that show up at scenes and also privacy issues.
Living in Dighton there is little to no privacy. You can go to the bowling alley for breakfast and sit next to the table of knowledge (a group of 6 to 8 farmers and retired gentlemen) and hear everything that happen the night before. Or stop in at the Kwikshop around 10 am or around 3 pm and listen to the nice elderly ladies talk about what happened. Most times in the event of an injury or a sickness where the ambulance is called, my wife gets a call from one of the church ladies as she is part of the prayer chain probable before the ambulance gets to the hospital.
As for lookie lous sometimes they come in handy at a scene. I’ll share 3 examples of scenes I was on where lookie lous helped.
1. Opening Day of Pheasant season a roll over accident on Pendennis Road 5 miles north of K-4, crash happened at around midnight but not found till 7:30 am 1 person trapped in the car, the car on it‘s top. Only one fireman showed up with the rescue unit. We used 3 or 4 lookie lous to help block the car up and help get the person out.
2. On a Thursday night at about midnight a roll over accident on K-23 Just before you go down the big hill. The cab of the pickup was on top of the driver. Even though there was two ambulance crews and several fire rescue personnel trying to dig the person out. The ground was too soft for jacks to work. With the help of several lookie lous the side of the pickup was lifted up so the person underneath could be removed.
3. A few years ago there was a School bus vs Semi-tractor trailer crash at Shields around 3:30 pm. The Sheriff, both Fire Chiefs, & the Director of EMS as well as the hospital Administrator and Head Nurse were all out of town at a class on disaster management. I will always think that if it wasn’t for people with scanners responding to help we would have lost more than just one student & the passenger in the semi.
Living in a small community, by encrypting your channels you are hurting a resource that could be really valuable at any given time. I know you are going to say that the county has mutual aid agreements with surrounding counties, but how fast can that aid be put to work? 30 minutes is a long time when you are dealing with the “Golden Hour” of a trauma injury.
I also know you are concerned with HIPPA. Here is a website with an article discussing HIPPA & Dispatching EMS and traffic back & fourth to the hospital I found interesting.
HIPAA Didn’t Kill the Radio Star | Public Safety Communications
The other thing I would like you to consider is weather. Living in Western Kansas as you know the weather here can change without notice. Local TV stations out of Wichita do their best to keep us safe. But with Cable & Satellite TV people are not always on a local station. Most of us who have a weather radio have it beside our beds so it will wake us in the middle of the night. So being able to listen to the Sheriff and Deputies weather spot is just another way to keep the community safe.
In closing I hope I have not upset or offended you in anyway. I hope you will consider the points that I have made. I know your main concern is Officer Safety, followed by the safety of the community. I think there can be a happy medium found that will keep Officers and Community safe but allow citizens with scanners to listen to what is going on too.
