[Scan-DC] Delaware Encryption

[Alan Henney]

https://baytobaynews.com/stories/encryption-of-police-radios-creates-some-static,53432

Encryption of Delaware police radios creates some static

Agencies seek to protect privacy, safety; opponents cite lack of
transparency

Dispatcher Phillip Nelson works at the Dover Police Department. Recent
efforts by area police agencies to encrypt their radio transmissions have
been opposed by some, citing departments' last of transparency.

SPECIAL TO THE DELAWARE STATE NEWS/ARIANE MUELLER

Posted Sunday, July 18, 2021 5:00 am
DOVER — Joining other states’ law enforcement agencies, Delaware State
Police encrypted all their radio transmission channels March 22.

That has been done, police officials said, in an effort to protect the
privacy of victims, as well as the safety of officers.

But others are concerned that the move limits the public’s right to know.

“We have no channels available or open to the public, media or others,”
said DSP spokesman Master Cpl. Gary Fournier, who noted that Wilmington and
New Castle County police encrypted their transmissions before DSP did so.

According to Cpl. Fournier, there were a few reasons the encryption was
enacted.
“First, this is to protect victims’ rights. When our dispatchers broadcast
an address for specific crimes (i.e., sexual offenses, personal crimes like
domestic assaults, etc.), this information should not be privy to the
public.

“Next, we want to ensure the public is receiving accurate information to
incidents that occur around the state. There are social media outlets not
directly connected to accredited media that will report inaccurate
information prior to the investigation being completed by law enforcement.”

He added, “Our public information office’s purpose is to provide factual
information and assistance to any and all valid media inquiries, with the
realization in mind that the public gets its news through the eyes and ears
of television, radio and newspaper media representatives.

“Lastly, it is to protect our Delaware law enforcement. Having the radio
transmissions open to the public also means the criminals have access and
can monitor our locations along with areas we are being dispatched.”

The dispatches of nearly all municipal police agencies in Kent, New Castle
and Sussex counties became encrypted in March, as well, since their
communications are transmitted through DSP’s Emergency Operation Centers.

Municipal departments continue to have access to encrypted radio
transmissions, Cpl. Fournier said. Fire companies only have access to
mutual-aid channels, he added.

Dover police spokesman Sgt. Mark Hoffman said his department has had an
encrypted radio system “for several years.” In addition, the Dewey Beach
and Rehoboth Beach police departments have their own dispatch centers in
Sussex County. Rehoboth Beach PD began encrypting its dispatches April 9,
according to Chief Keith Banks.

With the encryption, anybody with a scanner and the capacity to monitor
police radio transmissions lost access.

For freelance reporter Alan Henney, who works for the radio station WGMD
during the summer, encryption put a crimp in his ability to cover potential
news stories. Mr. Henney said DSP dispatches — now encrypted — would
typically include the type of complaint and the incident location.

“From a news perspective, this was especially helpful, especially with
determining the severity of accidents and traffic,” he said. “It is also
good to get notice of working incidents, crime trends and patterns and also
the type of crimes the police are investigating.”


While Mr. Henney lauded DSP for doing “a great job typically in news
releases,” he added that “the problem is that often those come out the
following day or days later. That is stale news. Photo ops are gone,
witnesses are long gone, and it is a dull, old story that newsrooms may
decide to skip entirely at that point.

“Or every news outlet will run the same news release using the same mugshot
rather than more informative crime scene photos. This also leaves the
police spokespeople in the important position of determining what ‘news’ is
and not the news outlets.”

WGMD Director of Broadcast Operations, Engineering and Programs Walt Palmer
is advocating for an open DSP channel, describing the radio station as
being “in the now business.”

The opportunity to monitor police transmissions is vital to the public’s
interest and safety, he said.

“WGMD is appalled by the sudden lack of transparency displayed by the
Delaware State Police through encryption of their dispatch radio channel,”
he said.

“Previous to their encryption, both the public and various news
organizations were able to monitor real-time dispatch communications. Why
is this important? If you live around the Sussex Correctional Institution
and a prisoner escapes, locals and news outlets knew immediately.

“If there is an incident on any of the major highways in and out of the
state, radio stations and websites could report the information
immediately. If there were to be police activity that restricted movement
into certain areas, the information was available immediately,” he said.

“Under the new rule, the public now must rely on email information provided
by DSP public information officers, which is often issued hours or days
following an event,” he added. “DSP is using the excuse that troopers have
broadcast proprietary information over their airwaves. Then, why are
troopers not trained to switch to tactical channels, rather than deprive
the public of critical public safety information?”

The issue has the attention of at least one state legislator, as well.
According to Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, a Georgetown Republican, “I understand
law enforcement agencies’ desire for secure communication of sensitive or
operational information over radio.

“That is precisely why both portable and in-car units have the ability to
switch up to secure talkgroups within the current system, an ability and
practice that has been done for years. Information on current activity and
police dispatch, including individuals who are being actively sought in our
communities, should absolutely be made available to the public in real
time.”

Sen. Pettyjohn continued, “Vital information that the public should be made
aware of is unnecessarily delayed by denying the public, hobbyists and the
media the ability to monitor police dispatch channels.”

Police perspective

There’s an array of benefits for encrypted radio transmissions, according
to at least some municipal police officers.

“The encryption gives police added security during an active scene,”
Seaford police spokesman Master Cpl. Eric Chambers said.

“With the ever-changing technological advancements, the general public is
able to easier listen to police radio traffic, and when we are at an active
scene, especially a critical incident, we do not want to take the risk of
curious people coming close to the scene to see what is happening or a
suspect to know police planning or operations prior to their arrest or
ongoing investigation involving them.”


In Milford, department spokesman Sgt. Rob Masten said, “Privacy of victims,
potential suspects and reporting persons, as well as possible
officer-safety concerns, are the primary reasons we feel this is the
responsible way to operate.

“Obviously, there’s times in which our community needs to know information
for their safety, or we need our community partners to assist us with an
investigation. In those cases, we make sure to get that information out
quickly through social media, our website and our Swift911 system. Swift911
allows us to do citywide messaging or targeted messages to specific
communities. We utilize Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor and Instagram for our
social media messaging.”

Sgt. Masten added, “Those platforms are helpful with getting out
safety-related messages, weather updates or any other topics that we feel
are helpful to our community.”

Dover PD’s Sgt. Hoffman said false narratives of an incident can spread
quickly following an initial dispatch.

“Oftentimes, amateur and established media have put out premature
information as it comes across the radio,” he said. “Oftentimes, officers
arrive on scene to an incident, and it is not what was dispatched
initially.”

Sgt. Hoffman noted that, while police transmissions may be encrypted, other
first responder channels are available and connected to ongoing responses.

For instance, he said, “An early-morning vehicle crash involving a bus
(recently) came in as a mass-casualty incident, prompting several media
outlets to report that lone fact.”

However, “when officers and medical personnel arrived on scene, only the
driver of one vehicle required medical treatment. While the crash was
significant and resulted in a four-hour road closure, the initial
information put out by the media and ‘amateur media’ or radio enthusiasts
was based on the initial dispatch with no follow-up information provided,
causing a lot of misinformation to spread, especially on social media.”

Also, Sgt. Hoffman said, encryption “helps in preventing onlookers from
going to active scenes and can also help officer and public safety in
high-stress situations where a suspect or someone in crisis can hear or be
provided information from radio transmissions (from family, friends, social
media posts by media, etc.).”

Closed channels could thwart assaults on officers, Smyrna police spokesman
Sgt. Brian Donner said.

“Ambush-style assaults on police officers are up nearly 90% in the last few
years,” he said. “Having the public listen to our radio communications
would put our officers in potential danger, as it may reveal their static
locations when they are working and unable to complete their mission, while
also keeping their head on a 360-degree swivel.”

Additionally, Sgt. Donner said, “We also at times have undercover or covert
operations being routed on our radio channel that, if listened to, could
put serious felony-level investigations in jeopardy.

“We routinely run individuals’ information over the radio, to include
information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses,
etc. For all of these reasons, encryption is necessary.”

Rehoboth Beach PD Chief Banks said that “With the progression of technology
and the advancement of social media having police radio transmissions
available to the public can present various scenarios of safety concern.

"These concerns are amplified in a jurisdiction such as ours that is
densely populated and quickly traveled on foot.”


According to DSP, there are certain channels that are not encrypted and are
utilized by mutual agencies for different details. These inoperable
channels are not encrypted when being utilized, so the public has access to
them, Cpl. Fournier said.

With those available channels, Kent County Levy Court Department of Public
Safety operations have not been affected by the encryption, Director Colin
Faulkner said.

Harrington Fire Co. Deputy Chief Earl K. Brode said the mutual-aid channels
allow his firefighters to communicate with DSP as needed and that the
encryption did not affect operations. Deputy Chief Brode is also a captain
with the Harrington Police Department, adding that the police agency’s
radio transmissions are encrypted.

The Dover Fire Department has its own transmission channel that is open but
can be encrypted as needed. Chief David Carey said DFD was not impacted by
police encryptions, due to the mutual-aid channels.

When to encrypt

While there’s a push to reverse the decision to encrypt transmissions, the
call isn’t for a complete opening of dispatches to the public.

That’s according to American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware Executive
Director Mike Brickner, who said, “Encryption of police radio frequencies
may be necessary in some situations to protect sensitive investigations or
circumstances where public safety could be compromised.

“However, widespread encryption also may pose significant hurdles to public
safety because it may prove difficult for police agencies to collaborate
with outside law enforcement agencies, as well as other public and private
agencies that may need to be part of a public safety response plan.”

According to Mr. Brickner, “By encrypting all police radio frequencies, law
enforcement also prevent the public from accessing information about its
day-to-day operations. Members of the press, government watchdogs and
interested residents often listen to police scanners to keep updated on
significant public safety developments, how police departments operate and
(to) understand what issues in the community police officers devote their
time and resources to.

“Delaware is already a state that ranks as worst in the nation with regard
to transparency of police misconduct records, and reporters and advocates
routinely note the difficulty in obtaining public records from police
agencies. The decision to encrypt police radio frequencies adds another
layer of secrecy in a state that is already opaque, which serves to
undermine trust among community members.”

Meanwhile, on July 6 in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis signed into law House
Bill 21-1250, which requires that “a law enforcement agency that encrypts
all of its radio communications shall create a communications access
policy, through collaboration with Colorado-based media outlets, that
includes an agreement governing access for the media to primary dispatch
channels or talk groups through commercially available radio receivers,
scanners, or other feasible technology.

“The policy may include, but (is) not limited to, verification of media
credentials; reasonable restrictions to the use of the commercially
available radio receivers, scanners, or other feasible technology; and
financial or other costs related to the sale, lease, or loan of the
commercially available radio receivers, scanners, or any other feasible
technology.”