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

Tue Jan 10 12:59:26 EST 2012

I have also come to the same conclusions:

1) Listening to public safety on scanners will be going away in the
not-too-distant future (a belief I've expressed a couple of times on
this group); and

2) The streaming scanner audio feeds (especially their smart-phone
availability) and the surrounding publicity are partly (maybe even
mostly) to blame (and I am one of the guilty parties, since I host two
streaming feeds).

It's a shame, but technology moves on (the same technology that allows
us to listen in the first place!).

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
lepine15 at comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 12:25 PM
To: Scan DC
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] Pasadena PD encrypts but promises media access

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

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