[Scan-DC] Should Stateline Area police radio traffic go silent?

[Alan Henney]

Beloit Daily News (Wisconsin)

July 28, 2016 Thursday

Should Stateline Area police radio traffic go silent?

BYLINE: ZAC BELLMAN Staff writer

SECTION: NEWS

LENGTH: 730 words

ROCKFORD -- The Rockford Police Department will implement a switch to encrypted systems for all of its radio transmissions starting in August.

That means people who enjoy listening to police transmissions over scanning devices will be disappointed. Radio traffic that previously could be received by traditional scanners and cell phone apps used by the general public will cease.

Meanwhile, in Beloit, Police Chief David Zibolski told the Beloit Daily News encrypting communications would be his preference as well, if it could be done here. 

Rockford Police Chief Dan O'Shea explained in a press release that although he sees the value in transparency to citizens and media that follow the scanners, "Ultimately, the safety of my officers, the safety of the public, and the public privacy rights of citizens are my primary concerns."

"Encrypting police radios will be a significant tool in eliminating risk to the officers, protecting privacy rights of citizens, and not tipping off criminals we are trying to apprehend by providing them with a real-time, play-by-play of officer tactics," O'Shea continued.

Rickie Traeger manages RockfordScanner.com, which monitors Rockford police transmissions. Traeger started a petition that has over 1,100 signatures to keep police transmissions public so the website and Facebook page with over 100,000 "likes" can continue to function.

"What has me scared the most is, the very same people that are here to protect and serve us (are) the very same ones who will be hiding things from the public via radio encryption," Traeger said.

Traeger also said he was skeptical of the officer safety argument for encryption.

"The officers say that it is for officer safety but have yet to provide one documented case that proves scanner traffic has jeopardized an officer's safety," Traeger said.

O'Shea responded to that argument by insisting it is not necessarily about what has happened, but what could happen.

"I couldn't tell you there are specific instances, threats or reasons why," O'Shea said. "However, this is a collective, I don't want to have to deliver bad news that could have been prevented by flipping the switch on encryption."

O'Shea also pointed to instances he had experienced such as that of a sexual assault victim's address and details about "where she was bleeding from" being transmitted over scanner-accessible frequencies as another reason for expanding encryption to all channels.

Zibolski said he is in favor of encrypted transmissions, which he said the Milwaukee Police Department had during his time there. But Zibolski said it's not his decision to make.

"I think it's absolutely a good idea, but the problem is all our communications go through Rock County (Sheriff's Department)," Zibolski said.

Zibolski explained that a switch to fully encrypted systems would have to go through all departments in the county, and there is also the financial hurdle of the switch to consider as well. The communication between neighboring departments also becomes more difficult when one is on an encrypted system and the other is not.

The Rock County Sheriff's Department has only two units with encrypted channels, with those being their SWAT and Investigative units, according to Capt. Jude Maurer. The reason for this, according to Maurer, is to maintain officer safety and protect the sensitive information of ongoing investigations. He also explained the main reason for not encrypting more channels of communication has been "primarily the cost."

O'Shea said Rockford also has some encrypted channels for similar units, but the problem is that information for the original call may go out before police realize the severity of a situation.

Rock County 911 Communications Director Kathy Sukus said the dispatch unit has not been asked to get an estimate for changing to encrypted transmissions across the county, but did have a sense based on previous numbers.

"I remember that last year we found out it would be $700 to convert each individual radio, and that's just the ones that are capable of being converted," Sukus said. "If they weren't capable of being converted it gets even more expensive to replace them."

Sukus also said each police department can have over a hundred radios when you consider those that are in each car, as well as fees that would be associated with making changes at each department's headquarters.