[Scan-DC] Pasadena PD encrypts but promises media access

[lepine15 at comcast.net]

I was thinking about starting a post on RR to start a dialogue with the site  
owners and the group as a whole, that maybe it's time to shut down the audio  
feeds for a little while.   Dept after dept is using this as the excuse to  
encrypt all comms.

Thoughts?

Paul
Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

-----Original message-----
From: Alan Henney <alan at henney.com>
To: Scan DC <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tue, Jan 10, 2012 04:57:20 GMT+00:00
Subject: [Scan-DC] Pasadena PD encrypts but promises media access


Pasadena Star-News (California)

January 7, 2012 Saturday

Pasadena's digital scanners can't be monitored

BYLINE: By Brian Charles, Staff Writer

SECTION: NEWS

LENGTH: 688 words

PASADENA - As of today, the Pasadena Police Department's radio  
communications will switch from analog to digital, preventing media outlets  
and amateur radio enthusiasts from monitoring police calls.

The police department will make its $7 million leap forward from analog to  
encrypted digital transmission of radio conversations in a move city  
officials insisted was not about secrecy but safety.

"We are not out to avoid detection, but we are here to keep everyone safe,"  
said Steven Page, Pasadena's telecommunications supervisor. 

Aided by cell phone advances that - in terms of technology - change every  
few months, criminals are monitoring police activity constantly, Page said.

"With the advent of iPhones and other devices, you can use an (application)  
to figure out where the police are at any given time," he said.

Shawn West, who owns West Information Services, a company that monitors  
radio traffic, said "people listening to scanners aren't committing that  
many crimes" and those employing scanners to aid in a criminal activity are  
themselves breaking the law.

And while police seek privacy in switching to digital transmission of their  
conversations, doing so will hinder the work of journalists, West said.

"Newspapers will have to wait on press releases," he said.

Meanwhile, a digital revolution of sorts is underway in law enforcement,  
with agencies from Pomona to the Pacific Ocean adopting new radio  
technology. And as they do, many news agencies will be at least temporarily  
left in the dark.

Pasadena city officials promised to come up with a plan to arm area media  
outlets with digitally equipped scanners. Pasadena officials said they will  
likely replicate the plan used in Orange County, where news outlets and law  
enforcement agencies enter into agreements to lease or receive the scanners  
on loan, Page said.

However, the city has not formulated criteria for what constitutes as a news  
agency.

For now, the Pasadena media will depend on the discretion of police officers  
in reporting the agency's activities.

"We will put the information out that the public needs to know," Pasadena  
police Phillip Sanchez said.

"That may be one of the unintended consequences," Pasadena City Manager  
Michael Beck said about the encryption which will keep residents and the  
media from listening in on police frequencies.

Sanchez surmises that the public prefers the improved response times  
associated with the technology to open access for the media and the public.

"I guess the balance to that is the benefit to the victim; that we get there  
quickly and can coordinate our response," Sanchez said. "Ultimately time  
will tell whether the media feels excluded."

While California requires government bodies to operate openly under the  
scrutiny of the press and the general public, police departments are not  
required to make the same concession when it comes to radio transmissions.

"I have never seen an obligation to keep scanner traffic transparent," said  
Terry Francke, CalAware attorney and government watchdog.

"Assuming of course that the police are doing what they are supposed to do  
... I don't know it's inherently suspect anymore than it would be for police  
to use the phone or email to secure communications," Francke said.

The new digital radio system works much like a cell phone. A computer system  
assigns a frequency to a radio in the field and switches that frequency  
assignment as traffic on the entire system increases or as the officer moves  
across the coverage area. In short, more people can talk along a more narrow  
spectrum of bandwidth, West said.

By April 1, the Pasadena departments of Public Works, Water and Power and  
Code Enforcement will have adopted the new encrypted system.

The Pasadena Fire Department will not adopt a fully encrypted system, as the  
department works closely with other agencies that have not gone digital,  
Page said.

In the Bay Area, the new radio systems have been crippled by cell phone  
jamming equipment, proof that the system is not foolproof, Page said.

"If someone really wants to jam our system, they can," Page said.

brian.charles at sgvn.com 

twitter.com/JBrianCharles 

626-578-6300, ext. 4494

______________________________________________________________
Scan-DC mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/scan-dc
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html