[Scan-DC] Interesting article on encryption and PD radios

[lepine15 at comcast.net]

My personal opinion....Lindsay's and idiot, and it all just a matter of  
time.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Droid

-----Original message-----
From: michael rumberg <m_c_rumberg at hotmail.com>
To: "scan-dc at mailman.qth.net" <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Mon, Apr 1, 2013 14:16:12 GMT+00:00
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] Interesting article on encryption and PD radios

Why do they bother with charging anything?  couldnt they have an equally  
binding agreement re: operation and use without the "lease fee"?


> From: alan at henney.com
> To: Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net
> Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2013 01:34:35 -0400
> Subject: [Scan-DC] Interesting article on encryption and PD radios
> 
> 
> Fort Collins Coloradoan (Colorado)
> 
> March 28, 2013 Thursday
> 
> Fort Collins police to silence public radio broadcast next week
> 
> BYLINE: By, Robert Allen
> 
> SECTION: LOCAL NEWS
> 
> LENGTH: 665 words
> 
> RobertAllen at coloradoan.com
> 
> Fort Collins Police Services is encrypting all routine radio traffic  
Tuesday so the public can't listen in with smartphone apps or scanners.
> 
> Through an agreement with police, the Coloradoan will have continued  
access to the main dispatch channel in order to continue to report on city  
police activity.
> 
> Police Chief John Hutto said the decision to take most emergency traffic  
off the public airwaves was made to improve officer safety and to prevent  
exposure of citizens' private information. 
> 
> Police are on a weekly basis arriving on scenes to find out people - often  
suspects - have known they were coming because they were listening to  
smartphone apps, and Hutto said he's not waiting for an officer to get hurt  
before making the change.
> 
> Lindsay Blanton III, CEO of RadioReference.com, the largest website to  
transmit public radio waves, said agencies across the country in such metro  
areas as New York and Los Angeles don't encrypt routine operations, only  
tactical SWAT and narcotics channels.
> 
> "The chief is definitely taking a hard-line stance against allowing the  
general public to monitor routine communications," Blanton said in an  
e-mail.
> 
> Only Fort Collins police Channel 4, used for coordinating with other  
agencies during special events, will remain open to the public. The  
Coloradoan by next week will receive a loaned radio for $100 with access to  
FCPS' main channel for dispatching and coordinating calls.
> 
> Other channels for data, car-to-car communications and tactical operations  
will be limited to police. Multiple discussions the past several months led  
to the agreement between the Coloradoan and police.
> 
> "Well, it's better than nothing, but then I have to trust you," said Fort  
Collins resident Doug Baker, who was disappointed to hear the news after  
listening to police radio traffic for 15 years.
> 
> Coloradoan staff intend to listen to the radio about 20 hours per day,  
every day. Blanton said such an agreement isn't unusual.
> 
> "I think it is great that the chief is going to provide a radio to the  
media - and yes, that is common in areas where full encryption is used," he  
said.
> 
> The Jacksonville, Fla., sheriff's office went encrypted several years ago  
and has leased radios to the media. But it took them back in summer 2011  
because of concerns for maintaining confidentiality, according to a report  
in USA Today.
> 
> Hutto said he understands concerns for police transparency. A document to  
outline more details of the agreement is pending.
> 
> The encryption takes effect at 7 a.m. Tuesday, and the technology results  
from the purchase of a $1.7 million Motorola APX 6000 radio system that FCPS  
saved for during the past decade.
> 
> Meanwhile, other area emergency responders aren't poised to encrypt radio  
transmissions. Poudre Valley EMS uses scanners to listen to police traffic  
like anyone else in the public, and they've sometimes been patched into  
police channels for events in which they cooperate. But encryption will end  
that, said EMS spokesman Wyandt Holmes.
> 
> Poudre Valley EMS will have to buy special radios for its tactical EMS  
team to communicate with police. Street crews will have to rely on  
computer-aided dispatch terminals for police information, as they won't have  
access to routine police radio traffic, he said.
> 
> Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said that, at this point he's not  
moving to full encryption, although he's had the capability since about  
2005. As a countywide entity that routinely works with state and national  
parks, Colorado State Patrol and more, he said his office's ability to  
communicate would be hindered.
> 
> "If they were able to encrypt, I would, and for the same reasons as Chief  
Hutto," Smith said in a voicemail.
> 
> Hutto said he expects most law-enforcement radio transmissions will be  
encrypted within the next five years.
> 
> Blanton disagrees. He said many agencies "value open access" and would  
never encrypt routine operations.
> 
> Follow Robert Allen on Twitter @robertallenCO for updates on radio  
activity and other breaking news.
> 
> 
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