![]() In April, Palo Alto residents criticized the new lack of transparency after a police officer sicced his service dog on a man wrongly identified as a kidnapping suspect.Įxperts question the ultimate outcome of police radio encryption and who it actually protects. The Palo Alto Police Department began encrypting its radio channels in January, notifying only the news media and without public input. Police in other cities, however, applied the encryption mandate swiftly and without notice. The Daily Post reported in July that some agencies had struggled to implement the new policy change, citing issues like a lack of compatible radio equipment. (The LAPD, California’s largest police department, appears to only partially encrypt sensitive communications.)Īmong California law enforcement, the move to encrypted radio traffic has been staggered. SFPD is the second-largest police department in California, reporting 2,100 employees in December, and appears to be the largest in the state to have encrypted all of its radio traffic. (In California, PII is defined as an individual’s first name or initial and last name in combination with other data, such as a Social Security or driver’s license number.) The statewide rule gave law enforcement agencies two options: fully encrypt their radio channels or selectively encrypt the dissemination of PII. In the past year, several other California police departments have also encrypted their radio transmissions in accordance with the DOJ mandate. A DOJ spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that PII "must be protected when it is disseminated by law enforcement over the radio," and that law enforcement can do so through policies that selectively secure sensitive information but allow other radio traffic to continue. When asked about transparency concerns, Lobsinger directed BuzzFeed News to the California Department of Justice, which he said authored the new encryption rules. SFPD replaced its 20-year-old system with a newer version that provides wider coverage and clearer audio and conforms to interoperability standards. They have been tracking the department’s shift from an analog radio system to a digital one in November. Scanner hobbyists on radio forums and subreddits first noticed the change, with many worrying about its potential to undermine police transparency at a time when distrust in the police is running high. The agency stated in a June media advisory that it is “committed to transparency as the law allows and will be fulfilling the public’s interest by not encrypting all of channels.” To limit the transmission of PII, the agency would encrypt portions of radio traffic containing sensitive information, including discussions of sexual assault and domestic violence. Michael Andraychak told Palo Alto’s Daily Post that the select encryption of PII would be “sort of striking a balance.” ![]() SFPD previously framed the coming encryption of its radio feeds as a partial measure, and not the effective blocking of all radio traffic. “These radio transmissions are an important window the public has into what police do,” David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, told BuzzFeed News. Privacy law experts say that blanket encryption is an extreme response to perceived threats, and that police radio traffic is a necessary public resource. Police in Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, and other states have recently encrypted their radio communications to some degree. It is part of a growing trend among US law enforcement that worries government transparency advocates about the consequences of a less visible police force. SFPD’s use of widespread encryption has barred hobbyists like Crisis - as well as journalists and audio platforms that broadcast police streams - from monitoring even standard police operations. The DEM has not yet responded to a request for comment. Communications between SFPD and DEM could previously be heard on scanners now, the public is no longer privy to the law enforcement side of those exchanges. The city’s Department of Emergency Management (DEM), which routes 911 calls to police or fire units, is also developing a protocol for encrypting certain radio transmissions, though some DEM dispatches may remain unencrypted. “Almost no police radio traffic will be heard, and what is left unencrypted is going to be on the Department of Emergency Management side.” “Effectively all police department traffic will be encrypted,” Adam Lobsinger, an SFPD spokesperson, told BuzzFeed News on Thursday.
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