[Scan-DC] Mentions Navy Yard Shooting (how much longer do we have to put up with this?)

Wed Jul 30 13:52:53 EDT 2014

I realize that is a rhetorical question, but the truth of the matter is
"No"... nobody can explain it because there's nothing to explain.

Law enforcement types are absolutely paranoid of the idea that their
privileged position of being able to say and do what they want over the
radio is being impinged upon by hobbyists.  So they concoct these stories
to rationalize why they need encrypted communications in order to protect
"tactical information" when in truth; it is doing little more than
protecting their ability to engage in shadier activities that they know or
should know aren't what their multi-million dollar communications systems
were intended for in the first place.

Do criminals use scanners?  Yep, that hasn't changed since the 70's or
maybe earlier, somehow they've always managed to keep doing their jobs.  By
and far however, most of the bad guys don't know how to use a scanner or
radio in the commission of a crime, few still understand what the cops are
saying on the radio.

Cops want to be able to keep sharing "Personally Identifiable Information"
(PII) over the radio, and they want to be able to exchange shop talk about
whatever they want without worrying about Tom, Dick and Harry listening to
them and reporting them to their elected bosses.  It's not about protecting
tactically relevant information for police operations, its about protecting
police and law enforcement egos.

I've worked with literally hundreds of law enforcement professionals over
the years, and I can assure you, the larger share of them think this way.

On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 1:38 PM, Lee Williams <leonzo at hotmail.com> wrote:

> I find it fascinating that the Navy Yard Shooting is being used as an
> example for encryption because: Metropolitan Washington DC Police were the
> lead agency in the Navy Yard Shooting. They are encrypted so can someone
> explain to me "what scanner traffic" was being broadcasted or quoted
> involving the Navy Yard Shooting?
>
>
>
>
> > From: alan at henney.com
> > To: Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net
> > Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 03:37:56 -0400
> > Subject: [Scan-DC] Mentions Navy Yard Shooting (how much longer do we
> have    to put up with this?)
> >
> >
> > Arkansas Daily Weblog
> >
> > July 28, 2014 Monday 8:53 PM EST
> >
> > Little Rock encrypting police radio traffic
> >
> > BYLINE: Max Brantley
> >
> > LENGTH: 594 words
> >
> > Jul 28, 2014 (Arkansas Daily Weblog:
> http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/ Delivered by Newstex)
> > Lt. Sidney Allen, the Little Rock police information officer,
> distributed this message today:
> >
> > Our radios are undergoing the first stages of encryption. The signal
> could possibly return by Friday, August 1, 2014. The time frame for full
> encryption has not been announced.
> >
> > The message has been interpreted to mean police radio broadcasts will no
> longer be publicly available.
> >
> > David Koon is looking into the ins and outs of this. Forbidden
> Hillcrest, a Facebook page that has built a big audience by monitoring
> Little Rock police radio traffic, isn't happy about it, to name just one.
> >
> > As of today LRPD has begun encrypting police radio dispatch, therefore
> it will no longer be available to the public or the press. This was done
> with no public discussion and with no vote before the LR board of
> directors. Repeated inquiries to city officials about the subject over the
> last several months were answered with silence or misinformation.
> >
> > Public silence will be a blow to a large audience of police scanner
> hobbyists who monitor the channel regularly. It will also be a problem for
> news outlets that monitor broadcasts, not only for breaking crime news, but
> also for traffic problems.
> >
> > Lack of immediacy will be a problem. One questions is what alternative,
> if any, will be provided on traffic reporting.
> >
> > A bigger problem is the simple absence of information. Case in point:
> Absent radio traffic, would anyone have known about the wreck, shooting and
> chase that began in Murray Park yesterday afternoon and concluded at the
> Waffle House just off Cantrell Road in Riverdale? No one was hurt. But the
> fact that it happened might not have been publicly known absent the radio
> traffic. A police department interested in a city's image might decide not
> to volunteer so many reports about untoward events with the knowledge that
> none of it was in earshot of regular listeners.
> >
> > On the flip side, it's fair to note the rise of quotes on social media
> from scanner traffic, some of which turns out to be inaccurate. The Navy
> yard shooting in Washington[1] was a particularly good (bad) example.
> Furthermore, there's a growing believe that, with cell phone apps, home
> burglars and others can tune into police radio broadcasts as a crime aid.
> >
> > Little Rock is moving its signal to the Arkansas Wireless Information
> Network (AWIN), a time when some other departments have made the decision
> to encrypt. Said the Russellville police when they made the switch:
> >
> > With the AWIN system our radio traffic will be encrypted. We know that
> for some people this will be a disappointing revelation. We understand that
> some of the community monitors our traffic on scanners that they have
> purchased. We have already received feedback from some of the community on
> anticipating the change; of course not all of it was positive.
> >
> > We have made this change due to communications and operational security
> reasons. We have noticed that not all of the monitoring of our system with
> scanners was done with good intentions. On numerous occasions criminals
> were using it to track our locations and to deter their capture.
> >
> > It's unclear until we hear more if this concern figures in the Little
> Rock encryption trial. More to come.
> > [ Subscribe to the comments on this story[2] ]
> > [1]:
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/news-outlets-often-stumble-in-quest-for-speed-and-accuracy/2013/09/16/e5444820-1f19-11e3-8459-657e0c72fec8_story.html
> [2]: http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/Rss.xml?oid=3400590id=comments
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-- 

Sean Hoyden
703.899.8893

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