[Scan-DC] [Montana] Billings Police to begin using encrypted transmissions

[Blair Thompson]

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http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/billings-police-to-begin-using-encrypted-transmissions/article_d4559921-a818-5a4d-8381-32da46c5e4f1.html

Cutline for illustration: Fleet mechanic Lee Hoke removes a radio for the installation of a new Tait TM9400 radio in a Billings Police Department pickup Thursday.

May 23, 2014 12:30 am  •  By Chris Cioffi 

The Billings Police Department will no longer be broadcasting its radio transmissions between officers and from officers to dispatchers on frequencies that can be picked up by police scanners.

The police bands on Friday will go from broadcasting clear speech to scrambled electronic tones that can only be deciphered by units programmed to unscramble the transmissions, said BPD Chief Rich St. John.

The $831,605 purchase of 453 new Tait 9400 radios — 303 for police and other department uses and 150 for firefighters — was approved unanimously by the City Council on Feb. 10, enabling officers to exclude curious ears from their transmissions.
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Officials cited officer safety and the transmission of confidential criminal justice information during police operations as primary reasons for the switch, St. John said.

During one traffic stop an officer observed a suspect using an application on his smartphone to listen to scanner chatter.

“It could hear our radio traffic, so it basically compromises what we’re trying to do,” St. John said. “People out there in scanner land will know our movements and know our tactics. It’s just a pure officer safety issue.”

City Administrator Tina Volek also cited a 2012 incident where 29-year-old Michael Brandon exchanged shots with officers at a convenience store before he was shot by officers at the Dude Rancher Lodge after a chase.

“The man was lying in wait when officers walked in,” Volek said. “He was with friends when they came to the Holiday, and the friends had a police radio and they were listening to everything that was happening.”

She could not for certain say that hearing scanner traffic played a role because he was shot and killed, but “people in his party were aware of the police officer’s action, and that is a direct threat to the officers.”

Volek said a growing criminal element in Billings puts officers at more risk than ever, and encrypting signals eliminates the possibility of criminals listening into transmissions giving away officer movements, putting them in danger.

She said that a criminal could hypothetically obtain a scanner easily and cheaply. Digital scanners cost about $460 in Billings stores.

“If you’ve got a major drug operation, $400 is a piece of cake,” she said.

Using cellular phones as an alternative to encryption for handling sensitive information is not practical, because the new radios are clearer, especially on the West End where cellular service can be spotty.

Volek said the encrypted signals shouldn’t come as a surprise to the community. Encryption has been on the table as a possibility for several years.

She referenced an article in The Billings Gazette which ran on Feb. 8, 2013, reporting the possibility of encryption when the dispatch center upgraded their communication systems from analog to digital in compliance with Federal Communications Commission regulations.
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