Pushback from the public regarding the encryption of law enforcement radio traffic has led to discussions about the decision, though it’s not likely that those channels will go back to being clear any time soon.
Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency completed a switch to an all-digital radio system in June, which among other things involved the encryption of all law enforcement channels for agencies that use CRESA for dispatch services.
The Law Enforcement Council of Clark and Skamania Counties made the decision to encrypt law enforcement channels, citing officer safety as the chief concern that led to it. Members of the public have spoken out about the decision, citing transparency among other concerns.
One local amateur radio enthusiast, Ryan Todd, sent a letter to different local government officials last week listing reasons why full encryption was a bad idea in his mind. Apart from having some police operations available for the public to monitor, managing the keys needed to access the encrypted channels can become costly, the letter read, and in the case of departments that do not have the encryption, the relay of communication could be delayed, compromising the usefulness of the system.
Another point touched on in the letter was how open channels can allow for community awareness. Todd mentioned in an interview that in certain situations having the feedback of the public can help in solving some types of issues.
The letter mentioned that in a recent interview Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins had estimated about 25,000 citizens use scanners. In perspective, the letter stated that the two most popular Facebook groups devoted to covering scanner traffic had a combined total of more than 42,000 followers.
“That is an incredible amount of eyes and ears that we could have in the community that can help police officers deal with events that don’t necessarily pose a risk to either officers or the public,” Todd said.
Todd said that those in the scanner enthusiast community do understand the benefits of encryption in certain situations, but blocking out the public totally was not ideal.
“If this is an officer safety issue, of course; use encryption. If this is not an officer safety issue, use your community,” Todd said.
In between the public and the police chiefs is Clark County Undersheriff Michael Cooke. Cooke himself has a background in amateur radio and has taken an informal role as a liaison between members of the scanner community and local law enforcement leaders.
“I cringe a little bit when I hear people that imply that this decision to encrypt has some sort of sinister motive because it absolutely did not,” Cooke said.
Cooke recently had a meeting with one of the individuals in the scanner community where he said several concerns were able to be addressed, feeling positive about the chance for understanding on the issue.
Although that meeting went well, feedback from law enforcement doesn’t look like there will be any clearing up of channels any time soon. Battle Ground Police Chief Bob Richardson is one of the local law enforcement leaders who is a proponent of encryption, having previous professional experience with it.
Coming from Orange County, California, where full encryption had been around for more than a decade, Richardson said in that instance there wasn’t the same pushback as the decision in Clark County has garnered.
“We don’t make these decisions lightly, nor do we make them in a vacuum. We have had vigorous debate in our meetings with the other police chiefs and the sheriff about what’s the right thing to do,” Richardson said.
In regard to transparency concerns, Richardson mentioned the crime map on CRESA’s website as an attempt to keep the public in the loop. Although not in real-time, the map shows where and why officers are dispatched.
One of local law enforcement’s chief arguments has been criminals’ use of scanners to circumvent attempts to catch them.
“We’ve stopped cars with people that are up to no good with the scanner apps listening to our radios,” Richardson said, mentioning another instance where burglars had left their scanner behind at a crime scene.
Another issue Richardson felt was left out of the conversation was people’s right to privacy when they contact the police. He explained how in a situation like domestic violence or a suicide attempt, having the information of that call out on open airwaves could negatively affect members of the community.
“Do you want that broadcast to the world live?” Richardson asked. He added how in other situations sensitive information such as gate codes would need to be broadcast as well.
Overall, Richardson said that encrypting radios was something necessary with the changing times.
“We live in a different world than we used to live in 20 years ago, and we have to protect our officers out in the street,” Richardson said.
