[Scan-DC] Connecticut Post: Keep information free of encryption

[Alan Henney]

Connecticut Post Online (Bridgeport, Connecticut)

June 29, 2009 Monday

Keep information free of encryption

SECTION: OPINION; Editorials

LENGTH: 238 words

The public has a right to know.

It's an understandable impulse, but police departments should resist the urge to encrypt their communications. It's important for information to flow freely and for people to be able to keep an eye on their government.

Greenwich police said recently they have the ability to encrypt all their communications, thus shutting out amateur scanner watchers (and, not incidentally, gatherers of the news) from keeping tabs on local goings-on at the police department. What they have not done, however, is demonstrate either a need for such an action or outlined any benefits.

Under current policy, officers can encrypt individual transmissions for reasons of security, but the department could soon switch so that all transmissions are automatically scrambled. Before the days of encryption, officers of the law simply learned when they needed to stay off the radio to avoid the dissemination of sensitive information. It's a system that is not crying out for reform.

Clearly, when public safety is at risk and options are limited, police are within their rights to limit access to their communications. A blanket policy of cutting off all knowledge of police actitivities, though, is far too drastic.

A police department's activities are a matter of public record. Secrecy should be kept to an absolute minimum. By cutting off avenues for keeping tabs on activities our tax dollars pay for, everyone suffers.