[Scan-DC] Blocking EMS scanner traffic hurts the public

[Andrew Clegg]

I think the writing's on the wall. Given enough time, it will likely become 
impossible to listen in on most public safety communications, at least in 
major cities. I think no matter how much we wish there was some 
"right-to-know" argument, public safety communications will be encrypted or 
transmitted in a format that can't be scanned by the public. I really hope 
this doesn't happen, but if it does, I for one could understand the 
justification -- privacy of medical patients, the need to keep criminals 
from knowing the details of police activity, etc. Has there ever been a 
successful challenge to a particular public safety agency going 
encrypted/proprietary based on the needs of scanner listeners or newspaper 
reporters?

The "right-to-know" argument is especially weak in my opinion. Public safety 
activity is almost always pre-decisional -- cops are sometimes chasing 
"criminals" who turn out not to be criminals, or even if they are, they have 
not had their day in court, so perhaps their information (including SSN, 
name, address, and descriptors, in the case of VSP) and claimed violations 
should not be transmitted for anyone to hear, especially in a high-pressure 
environment where, unlike court, what is said about suspected criminals may 
be heat-of-the-moment.

Newspapers want to be able to listen to public safety communications because 
they profit (or try to profit) from writing articles about the incidents 
they hear. It's not, I believe, because there's some public good that comes 
out of "the right" to listen to our public safety officials at work.

The argument that we should be able to listen in for our own safety (if we 
hear criminal activity in our own neighborhood) is also weak, in my opinion. 
If it's on the scanner, then the cops (or fire or EMS) already know it, and 
they are there to protect us (I know, I know...we can argue all day about 
how effective they are, but the point is, it is their job). I can't recall a 
single incident in many years of scanner listening where I had to take some 
quick action to protect my safety based on what I was hearing on the 
scanner. I have used it to avoid traffic back-ups, for example, but that's 
more of a convenience thing, not a safety issue.

Please don't take my ramblings as a wish to make public safety 
communications un-scannable, but after a few decades of listening to police, 
fire, and EMS on scanners, I'm (slowly) preparing to find other things on 
the scanner to listen to that are likely to take longer (if ever) to be 
encrypted/proprietary, such as aeronautical and ham. I think listenable 
public-safety communications will eventually go the way of Kodachrome.

Cheers,
Andy