Posted on 08/06/2023 12:26:40 PM PDT by Right Wing Vegan
In six Brooklyn precincts it is no longer possible for the public to listen in on police scanner radios.
The 40-year-old technology is being upgraded citywide and made so police radios are converted into encrypted channels.
This opens the door for other residents in precincts to lose the ability to listen to police frequencies.
Listening to police scanner radios has helped citizens avoid deadly shootings and allowed the press to report on crimes in real time. However, it is also possible for criminals to listen in and use police officers’ conversations to their advantage.
“We have a history of our radios being used against us,” said Ruben Beltran, chief of information technology for the New York Police Department.
“Our radios are one of the most important technologies, one of the most important tools that we provide to police officers and that we train them in. Because it’s more important than their firearm and anything else they have. In terms of being able to respond to incidents to also being able to request assistance.”
According to Beltran, that capability is thwarted because the channels can be hijacked by their adversaries and bad actors.
He said there is a big history of interference with radios, though did not provide an example at the conference.
In a statement from the City Council they wrote, “Transparency is key to achieving and maintaining public safety. It is troubling that the NYPD began encrypting its radio system without an adequate transparency plan implemented first, which can jeopardize the safety of New York residents.
Journalists, volunteer first responders, and other key stakeholders across diverse neighborhoods rely on the system to help keep people safe and deliver important information.”
Several groups like the New York City Fire Department and EMS are planning to have access to their systems, but it has not been made clear yet in what capacity the media would or would not.
“We’ve been looking at other cities,” Beltran said.
“We continue to explore other options to enable media access, consistent with what the technology supports and the success that other cities are having.”
Around me every county is using encrypted systems for their police departments, their fire departments are still in the clear, but without a modern scanner and one that can received digital trunked systems that are also simulcast, you can’t pick up much if anything.
Was it worth it, depends on your interests, I’m a ham radio operator, so I’m into communication equipment of all kinds, especially in emergencies like a hurricane approaching Florida.
It’s like any hobby, is a new set of golf clubs or a fishing boat worth it, not to me but to a lot of people they are.
Easier and less costly way ... just have the police talk in cursive English.
At the very least all conversations should be recorded and made available to the public after several hours. No editing allowed.
It IS kind of surprising that they haven’t done this yet. Basic security measures.
I’d ask your local PD if you bought an encryptor if they’d provide a fill. Bet the locals don’t re-key but every six months or so.
Chump change for NYC.
If we can’t hear you we can’t help you.
Best solution: Dispatch channels “in the clear”; Tactical channels encrypted. Move narcotics calls to a tac channel.
Same here town of only around 50k did it years ago.
Unfortunately, they do have a valid security concern with clear talk radio traffic.
They don't want to attract "lookie-loos" from the general public to watch active crimes underway. And they really don't want to attract reporters from the media. It has happened.
High-end criminals can monitor radio clear traffic to avoid police activity during their operations. It is possible that this has happened a few times.
Most certainly, the Mexican cartels have monitored police radio traffic to avoid unpleasant encounters with authorities.
One might suppose that a multi-stage terrorist operation would monitor police radios to coordinate a secondary ambush of responding forces.
These are the kinds of nightmares that Security Directors are paid to consider. Damned straight they are going to recommend encrypted channels for real-time communications.
Most police transmissions in my area have been encrypted for several years now. It did not seem very expensive to do in the normal cycle of equipment replacement and there seems to have been no problems with it. Unless somebody lost the encryption key filler device.
Chump change for NYC.
Don't you mean chump change for the beat down tax payers in NYC?
The switch to encryption had to wait for computer power and once analog was phased out in favor of digital ,encryption was certain to follow.
And that killed the scanner industry and hobby .
When I patrolled in the 1980s all the small departments heard each other on the analog frequency.
Today police radios are more like a dedicated cell phone network and the management determines by system programming if Podunk may hear Stinky Hollow radio traffic and the reverse,despite knowledge of nearby activity ,NOT filtered or blocked ,could be lifesaving or stop more crimes.
It’s just one more facet of the two-class situation.
Government people have more privacy,power,and protection, while “civilians”(used to be citizens), have little of each.
Once more,without the idiotic American consumers of harmful drugs there would be no Mexican drug cartels.
One thing Singapore has correct.
NYPD going after criminals? That’s pretty novel.
Should have been done decades ago…
How the hell did the city get billions in anti teriorism money post 9/11 and not secure their communications?
Government incompetence.
Reading the comments on here is just mind boggling. People had scanners for years; my father listened to his constantly. There is no harm in people listening to scanners. Local reporters might show up at a crime scene to, you know, report? God forbid! Sure, scanners can be used for nefarious reasons, but so can many, many other things we don’t want outlawed. Why does everyone support making everything in government secret?
Just gotta think about the safety of the officers and the children being harmed by terrorists don’t we?
Dear people citizens. You are now under the control of authoritarians who have exempted themselves from the law.
Meanwhile every communication that you make is recorded and retained for future use against you.
Have a nice day.
In my area comm is unencrypted except when a tactical operation is underway (basically, SWAT team involvement or some intense undercover thing).
I have a RadioShack PRO-106 for the Motorola trunked system. I recall it cost $349.
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