Will police scanners become relics of the past?
Police scanners across Signal Hill have gone silent, and the same may soon happen in Long Beach.
In October 2020, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered all police and sheriff departments in the state to take steps to protect individuals’ personal information from being shared publicly over police dispatch. The DOJ gave departments two choices for protecting personal data: fully encrypting all radio communications or keeping the majority of radio communications open to the public while using private alternative channels to share personal information.
As of April 17, the Signal Hill Police Department is among approximately 120 police departments across the state that have opted to fully encrypt their radio communications.
In an email to the Signal Tribune, the Long Beach Police Department said it is planning to encrypt its radio communications as well, but did not have a date for when it would do so. It also said it still needed to purchase the equipment necessary to do so.
Two bills have been brought forward over the last three years by California State Senator Josh Becker to try to force police departments to reopen their radio communications to the public. The most recent one, Senate Bill 719, died in committee in January.
The Signal Tribune reached out to Becker’s office on May 13 to ask if he plans to propose any future legislation on police radio encryption, but did not hear back as of print time on Thursday.
Legislation in favor of decrypting police radio transmissions has faced opposition from police groups and associations, including the California Peace Officers Association, California State Sheriffs Association, Peace Officers Research Association Of California and Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
“It impacts the right of the press to understand what’s happening in the world, and therefore the public’s ability to understand what’s happening in the world …”
David Snyder, executive director of the nonprofit organization the First Amendment Coalition.
On the other side are mostly various news related groups, including the California News Publishers Association, California Broadcasters Association, California Black Media, Ethnic Media Services, Pacific Media Workers Guild, National Writers Union and Radio Television Digital News Association.
“By fully encrypting, the police departments cut off the ability to accurately report on breaking news in a way that it has been able to be covered. […],” said Brittney Barsotti, general counsel for the California News Publishers Association. “[…] When we get information out we can avoid a certain area because there’s different types of threats to public safety occurring, and it allows us to not just report on the events the police are responding to, but also the ability to cover how police are responding to certain incidents.”
Barsotti said that legislation to prevent the full encryption of police radio communications across the state would not be needed if the DOJ decided to publish another memo telling departments not to fully encrypt.
Local governments across the state have also weighed in on the issue of police radio encryption. SB 719 was opposed by the cities of Whittier, Santa Barbara and Visalia as well as by the League of California Cities, which represents the cities of Long Beach and Signal Hill, as well as 476 of California’s 482 cities, according to its website.
Long Beach Councilmember Al Austin is a member of the board of directors for the League of California Cities.
The City of Palo Alto is the only public body that supported SB 719. The Palo Alto Police Department had previously chosen in 2021 to fully encrypt its radio communications, but the department reversed course and reopened its communications to the public after the appointment of Chief Andrew Binder in 2022.
David Snyder, executive director of the nonprofit organization the First Amendment Coalition (FAC), said that while more departments began fully encrypting after the DOJ memo, the FAC was aware of police departments moving to fully encrypt as far back as 2017.
“It impacts the right of the press to understand what’s happening in the world, and therefore the public’s ability to understand what’s happening in the world, in particularly sensitive or dangerous situations like wildfires or floods,” Snyder said.
Online services such as the Citizen app rely on police scanners to provide immediate information to the public about potential dangers in their areas.
Local social media pages, such as the Long Beach-based social media account Streaming562, use information gathered from police scanners to inform residents of crimes and emergencies occurring around them. The account also used to share information about Signal Hill, but that is no longer possible.
“It’s terrible […] It really just hinders the public’s access to information,” said a spokesperson for Streaming562. “[…] It’s really not a positive thing when the police department, any police department, is really trying to rebuild their reputation in the community and really try to work in collaboration with the community. And I really think that it just hinders it because people are going to hear that and think: ‘What are you trying to hide?’”
Not only would this stop the public from hearing vital information concerning the community, but it would likely fence off one police agency from another in the event of a widespread event involving more than just a single city, but perhaps multiple jurisdictions simultaneously. And will this hamper fire departments and parameds from communicating with law enforcement during major emergencies???
Sounds like a costly reincarination of the Tower of Babel.