I think as a member of the public we shouldn't be kept in the dark on what's going on in the area. Especially in such dangerous times with the coronavirus out there. I'm all for open communications for all emergencies so we can use our brains and avoid them when possible, or have the most up to date information so we can best weather them. As taxpayers I think we also have a right to know where our taxes are going, too.

I AGREE WITH YOUR OPINION. There are times when certain channels or operations should be encrypted but the routine dispatch channels should be in the clear.

I think everyone should be allowed to use encryption. If police can encrypt their transmissions, why can't I?

If we are paying for the equipment, we should be able to listen.

I really appreciate this video. I have listened to police and emergency channels for over forty years. My local police department recently encrypted their transmissions, which to me is hugely detrimental to the citizens of our small town. For decades it has been the ONLY meaningful way to know what was going on. I agree that sting operations, etc., should be encrypted somehow but ours already were. Frankly I find it frightening.

We need an Edward Snowden for the scanner world.

I agree with each of your points. Listening also increases my appreciation for the work our public servants do each day. With Encryption, we are moving toward a secret police state.

Don't forget you also have volunteer firefighters and EMS that always listen to police scanners to

That's no "federal grant," that's MY stolen money

So much for transparency!!! I was in law enforcement and even was a small town police chief at one point. Not once, did I have an experience of criminals using scanners. It may happen but not often enough to justify locking out law abiding citizens...

As a former swat instructor I can tell you we stayed radio silent. There are other encrypted options other than radio that we deployed. One such option most folks can utilize is encrypted cell network calling. It's digital. As long as the cell signal is good it is a great secure alternative and Google play has a couple apps. But Android based apps have security limitations which brings encrypted Linux based communications into the arena. Linux even has fairly secure gps not based on Google. So don't get too hung up on just encrypted digital radio because the big boys aren't even using it.

I believe as taxpayer we have right to monitor our police scanner traffic; could actually help deter crime. Transparency; common courtesy.

Having been a Denver resident for over 20 years and a scanner enthusiast I hope Colorado can pass a sensible bill on this. I had the app on the iPhone and I remember the time where I was like oh it no longer works. I think there is a need for public to know what their civil servants are doing. I understand also undercover swat and those types that need encryption.

100% agree. I miss listening to scanner traffic and knowing what was going on in my area.

I have a funny feeling , that when qualified immunity is revisited ( and I believe it will be revised) it will change. Remember people, it's all public record /FOIA . The police are funded by the people they serve. Their problems have come about because the police have abused their own authority. Good video👍

I am disabled and use a scanner to be aware of areas where there may be trouble and to keep myself safe.

Pasco County, FL just recently switched to encrypted digital radio. No longer can hear any police, fire rescue, but can still hear fire rescue dispatch. I agree that full encryption is overkill and should only be for extreme situations as you mentioned.

At least I can still hear the security guards at the local mall.

Great channel and love content. In the late 90s 2000s in Toronto, I noticed that the police were changing and going up to 900mhz and beyond. This meant that you would have to get your scanner tweaked to receive a clear and clean signal.

Dispatch yes sensitive no. My friends and I used to have fun listening to police chatter, especially police copters.

I 100% agree with you, dispatch, tac, and c2c channels should be open, but undercover ops and stuff like that where you don't need people just showing up because it would ruin the whole thing. I feel like encryption makes things more complicated, especially if your department switches their key every couple of days or something just so that people who brute force it can't keep listening. If you don't have a way to just pump out the new key over the internet or some kind of private data channel, it makes things harder for not only the officers (e.g. what if one of them has an out of date key in their radio), but also for the techs who program them because you have to plug them in one by one and upload the config. I'm not a ham radio operator myself but I am definitely super into radio, haven't gotten my license because I live in the middle of nowhere and nobody within 150 miles does testing. Anyways, encryption is too overused today.

In my area, the police will say on the air if something is sensitive, they should move to the cell phone instead.

There is no reason for encrypting regular dispatch calls. Many of us out there have assisted police after hearing calls on the radio. More so than any two bit criminal burglarizing a home or business. If there is an undercover operation going on or a warrant arrest then encrypting is necessary. I didn't see in any comments where Police Laptops were mentioned. My local police isn't encrypted but it is quiet most of the time because of calls being sent via computer. Also police use their smart phones to talk as well. So it isn't just encryption we should be concerned with for sure.

As a Ham I sure agree ! After spending $500, for a digital scanner the quality sucks. So free our scanner freqs.

Police transmission should be a matter of public record.

I AM GOING TO PUSH FOR A BILL TO MAKE PRIMARY DISPATCH ENCRYPTION ILLEGAL IN MY SMALL FLORIDA TOWN

Encryption should be for sensitive information, dispatch shouldn't be encrypted. If you want confidentiality, use cellphones and Zello.

I remember the old days where you could hear a lot. I had old analog Realistic Pro-34 handheld and Bearcat 16 channel scanners. I remember listening to a number of things, including when you could still (legally) hear cordless (46 MHz) and old cellphone frequencies (800 MHz). Many of those cordless and cell conversations got really juicy. LOL! I don't have the Pro-34 anymore, but still have the Bearcat. There's still stuff on analog, but not much anymore.

I encourage fellow people to write to their representatives in Congress about this and explain why this is an issue. It's literally a safety issue where people around them cannot hear what's going on. Especially second responders, people like Amateur Operators who have the ability to help and supplement, etc. Everything other than personal information or super confidential stuff needs to be in the clear.

No on encryption. I like listening to what is happening in my county. Also, I have a handheld so I know what is happening in areas I travel. I like to be informed so I can stay safe on the road

As they become the secret police, they learn to keep more of what they do secret. There have already been court cases about this and there need to be more. I'd like to see agencies forced to put their communications online.

I agree we should be allowed ro listen. Encryption can lead to more chances of corruption

I work with law enforcement doing traffic control and I want to know when someone is shooting some where and know what danger is going on so I can hear any threats that may be going on in our City or im going to quit all together because I don't get paid to do this it's all voluntary ☹️!!!!

Longtime scanner fan ( 1963) . Like the military there is info that is not intended for the general public remember loose lips sink ships. That being said I totally agree in that dispatch and routine operations should be public domain because, like you mentioned WE, the people, fund them. They are Civil Servants and our employees so we get to have a seat at the table. Never good to give 100% authority to ANY Agency but especially a government entity. OPEN those lines of communication folks. Good video. Thanks for sharing.

Just stumbled across your channel. I used to use my Baofeng BF-F8HP as a scanner when we would hear sirens because it was easy to keep by the bed. But, now El Paso has shifted everything to digital. I'm not sure if it's encrypted or not, was going to buy a Uniden BearTracker. But, I guess I need to do some more research first. Thanks for the video.

I'm a long time scanner monitor. I believe it's ok to encrypt some channels, but leave primary dispatch alone. (30+ years in public safety.)

Way back when I was exposed to Police Radios/Scanners my local Police Department had a scramble setting they could use to garble their transmissions. Dispatch would for instance say 312 scramble 1. And they could have their conversation and to us in scanner land it was a gambled message. When they were done they went back to normal traffic. I think this would be just fine now. With sensitive traffic encrypted. Normal traffic in the clear.

January 28, 2019. 7 cities PD's and FD's in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County are about to go encryption any day, ending my nearly 50 year run of analog listening. That really sucks!

When I first started listening to scanners I had the Radio Shack/Realistic 2042 1000-channeler that enabled me to listen to basically everything from soup to nuts -- police, fire, medical, ham/amateur radio, a few fastfood joints, airband, sometimes I could pick up only part of a cordless-phone qso, trains, taxis, college-campus lectures, and other miscellaneous stuff.. that was so freaking awesome! That was also a couple of years back..... I heard some officer/dispatcher talk about "let's not be putting certain informations on the air" such as addresses n such.. next thing I know, scanner reception went down the drain far as that goes.. fast forward to just recently, not too long ago now - Instead of a human in per se the fire/medical dispatch talking the dispatches, omg now instead of being able to hear a comm about a bad accident with vehicles blocking and injuries to boot that just happed like on the street I use every day, I hear a freakin' computer voice saying this: "Unit this, unit that, unit the next unit, MVA, Multiple injury, refer to pager for address"..... Now if I wanted to or needed to go someplace using my everyday street, I am unable to know where on that street I need to avoid, and if there happens to be a mess of squad cars amongst other emergency vehicles blocking my way and diverting traffic, I wind up LATE to wherever I had to be, all because someone didn't want to let scanner-listener me know where not to be!! So it's no damn wonder the COMMUNITY is running out of patience with those who would be foolish enough to dare trample on us!! Know what I say? Y'all can trash the friggin' pagers!! NOW!!!

I wasn't expecting a history lesson on police scanner technology but I did expect for you to show us how or atleast why it sucks!

I got into scanning in 1991. It was a different world for sure. You could hear pretty much anything, including cell phones and handheld portable phones. I personally don't believe the digital networks were all that great in improving communications. When one city near me launched their trunked analog system it was a nightmare for them. Same for the largest city I live in, where the new APCO25 system just required so many repeat transmissions. They really had to build the system up with more equipment to cover all the areas effectively. I don't really care for digital simply because it's an "all or nothing" mode of communication. With analog you can fade the signal somewhat and still make out what the other party is saying. Digital will just cut out, as we've seen with television being digital now. I also think the frequency choice of 700 and 800 mHz are poor choices. The argument that bands were too busy is so overblown. All they did was move into the higher frequencies and abandon VHF. You can scan around a busy city in the VHF range and probably never hear anything. Having a shared system makes sense and inter-agency frequencies always existed, but not too many agencies had radios with the same channels. All in all, it's a shame that radio is dying. The internet and cell phones have killed off many aspects of ham radio, scanning, and even music radio or TV. Police now rely heavily on CAD (computer-aided dispatch) and don't need to use the radio nearly as much. All in all, I really only wish the local PD would not encrypt all their "hot" calls. The dispatch is clear, but anything remotely interesting is sent to an encrypted channel. Back in the day without encryption, hot calls were rarely anything that would compromise an operation. Sometimes the most you'd hear was a foot chase or similar. When people started complaining about encryption online, police officers claimed criminals used scanners too often and it made their job hard. I don't buy that. I think in all the years I listened I hear maybe two times where a scanner was referenced by PD after a call. We've all watched COPS and other shows and a scanner was like finding a gold nugget in the wild.

I am in Public Safety and one of the reasons we do not encrypt all traffic is due to packet loss. We have seen a packet get dropped and part of the conversation is lost. There was discussion on encrypting all system traffic including Fire, Public Works, etc. The other issue is if you are using AES 256 then you have to use a key loader, an additional piece of equipment and additional keys to manage. Interoperability with other agencies and users becomes a huge problem. Throw a gateway or tactical interoperability bridge into the mix and your encryption is now worthless. Audio In Audio Out.

Some radios have a switch on them that turns encryption off and on. I have heard surveillance opps in the clear, when they were supposed to be encrypted.

I live in Colorado as well I'm pissed i paid for the app a longtime ago now i can't hear whats going on around me whiel on my security shift

I live in San Diego county and I'm so glad that very few channels are encrypted, and they're mostly SWAT, gang units, and other stuff you'd expect to be encrypted. But It's really stupid how they're even allowed to encrypt normal dispatch, especially with the current situations going down, it seems like it would create more tension between the public and the pd. I'm also surprised at the amount of smaller counties buying into encryption, considering that even most of Los Angeles's dispatch is analog FM.

As a tax payer, to put bluntly, there should be no encryption, what do they have to hide?

Hey pretty interesting video. So if I understand correctly in the beginning of your video is that where “p25” originates from?

Great video and I agree with your point of view on Encryption. It should be there for sensitive communications but not for routine dispatch channels. This has been a topic and received a lot of feedback on my podcast and I was wondering if you would like to be a guest and talk more about encryption. 73 de W2LIE

Couple of things, I miss the old days analog radio and television. With digital television, you get a signal or you get garbage. In the old days if you didn’t get a signal you might get a crappy signal but you still got a signal. At least you can watch your favorite shows without a completely dropping out. As for police, my local community went digital, but not encrypted. The problem they were having was if they arrested some kid, before they could get him through the sallyport at the jail the kids grandmother was calling them and asking them why they arrested their grandson. Because everybody in town had a scanner. It became such a problem it was tying up the dispatcher. I do believe we should be able to listen to dispatchers, I agree with what you said about special operations, I wish we could get them to cooperate.

I can't agree with you more, TRANSPARENCY is important! They should ONLY encrypt certain types of communications NOT all.

My dad LOVED listening to scanner traffic. He ran with the fh in an ambulance back in the 60s.

Sir, I have a question regarding highways. Is there a device I can use that can pick up police radio as I'm driving on the interstate.

Here in the UK we have had it a few years on Tetra. It was great fun listening in the 1980s - '90s. Sadly long gone unfortunately.

Encryption should be allowed for sensitive communications. Not all police calls are sensitive. We need to know what is going on around us since the media cannot be everywhere at anytime.

I"m not super familiar with scanners but I used to listen to a generic one until my area encrypted. I wonder if a freedom of information request for encryption codes or whatever would be a viable path in some way.

Just treat it as a challenge and work out a decryption algorithm :o)

Dang... I was hoping you had a solution for the scrambled eggs 😉. If they operate in total secret, they will become corrupt... Guaranteed.

It kinda backfired on them because since the signal is digital, it breaks up and has gaps in voice communication where in the past it would have been static but understandable. Also has a very low bitrate mp3 sound when it works.

26 years in law enforcement, and before this encryption digital crap not once did we ever have a problem with scanner enthusiasts showing up on a scene or a criminal using a scanner to commit a crime. Digital to me SUCKS, the sound is tinny and muffled compared to VHF of old, plus what's worse is you can't just push the talk button and speak, you have to wait or else your sentence will be cut off... It's stupid... And when they started with MCT in car dispatch crap it's just something to take up more space and to take a officers eyes off the road as a distraction. Can you tell I'm old school. We still answered our 911 calls over the radio for decades without a computer in the car. Sometimes the old way is simply better. Then try sitting shotgun in a cop car with a huge ass computer and floor mount taking up the passenger seat area, let alone it's a safety issue for the officer sitting in the passenger seat interfering with the cars air bag . Crazy ... By the way, yeah I use to love to listen to the scanner before I was a cop, now that I'm retired I'm pissed I can't simply listen..

I thought there was supposed to be transparency. That's public information. If you get locked up, they put your name everywhere.

You hit the nail on the head. I live in Riverside, CA and we used to be a big help in informing citizens of areas to stay away from, or of a suspect to be on the look out for. No more. The whole county is silent. We hate it! In the city I used to hear of PD back logged 30+ calls and citizens would be pissed at the lack of staffing. To me this is just a case of keeping the public in the blind. Like you said, 90% of radio does not need to be encrypted!

You are correct 90% free air 10% max needs to be private!

FYI inside 1 World Trade Center the firemen could only communicate with their command sporadically, and sometimes not at all. The guys were constantly talking into their radios "say again, say again," and only garbled responses came out. Apparently the NYPD did not have these issues. Not sure why. Also the Port Authority workers were in constant communication. Those dudes kept calm and helped a lot of people find their way out, including myself, and don't get the credit they deserve.

as a taxpayer the police budget is among the biggest !! where is the transparency? at least the dispatch should be heard!

Get used to it, here in the UK, all emergency services are encrypted TETRA airwave.

Nice video. Being a ham for 25+ years and having designed analog radio scanners that far back (for Cobra), there's a lot of misinformation out there. You made a great point about apps taking the technology bent out of hobby scanning. The problem actually started way before digital and 9/11. A certain POTUS (Billy Boy for you youngsters) was recorded on a call on the 800 MHz analog cellular system. At that point, government agencies knew something had to be done. And - even though there is virtually no analog or unencrypted data on that band plan - scanners are still locked out from those frequencies. 9/11 happens and technology caught up; but that leaves law abiding citizens without the means to monitor. For me, the real issue is that my local FD went encrypted, meaning no more monitoring of events that can really cause public safety issues. Plus I have generations of analog scanners, trunked analog scanners and digital "trunkers". What kills me is that I had the digital trunked scanner for only a year or so before they turned on encryption. I agree - encryption for the stuff that needs to be secret. Open for the "normal" items.

Four years later and it still sucks thank you for this KZfaq post and have you heard that a county in Ohio is going from encryption back to the clear on its main dispatch but keeping tactical channels encrypted which it the way it should be already and into the future why encrypt regular transmissions and calls when you can just encrypt the tactical channels and channels you do not want the general public to hear

I like your setup. Is that the new Icom scanner/receiver behind you? If so, how is it and is it worth the money. I'm in a very compromised area and unable to have anything but Dual Band right now. Wife doesn't want to move so I'm stuck. I think I'll continue to listen and hit the repeaters, at least something is better than nothing at all. I have a nice antenna for listening outside but no way can I have my Ham stuff up and running. Looks great! 73, K9HDT!

I'm a former law enforcement telecomm operator and a ham of over 40 years. I've also been in media off and on for around 20 years, both radio and TV. Of course dispatch channels should be unencrypted! Many convenience stores used to have scanners to monitor for robberies, thus getting a decent heads-up to the pattern most bad guys use of hitting several stores at a time. I also think that GMRS/FRS traffic should allow for encryption via digital, rather than allow this double-standard from the FCC. It's bad enough that under Part 97 (CFR 47 Part 97.13) the hams have to deal with RF signal measurement compliance in many instances, while 5G operations operating at 60Ghz require none. Just follow the lobbyist dollars!

I believe it should be public. Public servants, public service, public! With an encrypted channel on the side. Say, 95 percent transparent. That could work...?

We have air traffic left untouched in the UK. Both civilian and military. But even the railway has gone encrypted. The UK police have been like this for years now. It's not even worth buying a radio with DMR + NXDN + ProVoice. The cost a bomb, plus if you use them, encryption is free!

By far the best ham channel I ever saw. Not even sure if it’s a ham channel but it’s nice to see the professionalism, clarity and understanding of the hobby not usually this present on “ham” type KZfaq channels.

All "non-critical" transmissions to be open

Back in the day I used to listen to cellphones all the time. It was the best entertainment out there

I've heard some officers say that sometimes a call is not responded to and simply marked as closed. Larger PDs also utilize CAD systems that routinely send the call to a laptop (MDT) I also expect that encryption is easily switched on/off and they can selectively quiet sensitive information. Without being able to activities, we have no idea what's going on in our areas.

As a Ham I was wondering if the P-25 Ham radios will receive everything except if their encrypted? Or does Trunked screw everything up? I do agree encrypted is necessary certain times. With analog dispatch was able to encrypt or scramble when it was needed. Will the Uniden SDS200 be able to receive encrypted transmissions? I've considered taking up a collection, buying one and put it on the Internet.

Having worked as an Undercover Narcotics Investigator, and having worn a "wire" while doing so, encryption is 100% legitimate, and necessary. However, standard operations, i.e., traffic enforcement, routine complaints, etc., should be broadcast on open frequencies. You're never going to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.

I'm surprised they even started digital without encryption. You wanna try living in the UK... It's shite. .

Public servant encryption should be Illegal in every state except under limited need use like warrant services or task forces

In my area, many municipalities leave one or two dispatch police channels open with a handful of tac channels they switch over to as needed. It seems like a good compromise.

Understand some of your opinions about "necessary encryption". But in some cities even the DPW is encrypted. That is going too far. What is next, encrypting the plumbing inspector?

For the longest time here in Vegas, everything was encryption but for the Area Commands then one day, it was all encrypted. I think it should go back to being unencrypted for the interest of public safety and for ham radio operations.

I want to get in to scanners again from analog days.I live in Reno nv what handheld scanner do you recommend?I would like to listen to casinos like Atlantis,GSR but they are dmr mototrbo…police are dmr I think.Washoe county.What do you use?Thanks for the help👍

I have been a shortwave listener since I was 13 years of age. I listened to shortwave radio, picked up AM broadcast stations and even distance TV stations. I even picked up news of the arrest of a Catholic bishop in Cuba and got the news to a local newspaper and they published the news. I became a ham radio operator later in life. I am NØUWY. In about 1972 I started working hospital security. About that time I had a four channel crystal pocket scanner. One time I was getting ready to step off the curb into a narrow street. I heard a police officer give his radio number and say car chase and location and it was a few feet from me. I did not step in the street. Just then the car he was chase passed me at a high rate of speed and then the police officer passed me and then turned on his emergency equipment and then a few feet down the street the car the officer was after crashed. If I had not heard that radio call I would have been hit, for sure, maybe by both cars. I spent over 30 years working hospital security. I can't count the number of times that me being able to monitor police calls I could help the police and often get out of their way. One time they had a program of high way patrol officers riding with a city, KCMO, officer in high crime area for some training. One time I heard the beep beep beep "assist the officer" call. The state officer took off on a foot chase of a person and the Kansas City officer lost the state officer and had no idea where he was. I was just a block or two away and I drove over and found the state officer and called our dispatcher and had them inform KCPD so the officer could come over to the state officer. I can't count the number of times we help the police and plus we got information that we needed. Not long after that the Kansas City PD went to encryption. Our hospital paid for one KCPD HT so our dispatch could monitor. But that was just for our dispatch center and the officer there was always too busy to even monitor. So our three officers on outside patrol had no idea what was going on in the area. I agree, of course, with KØLWC, that some QRGs do need encryption. I also agree 100% that this is a plan to take away the bands that we use and sell them for money. People do not understand the many services that hams provide for people at zero cost. There are 700,000 hams in the United States. The next nation is Japan with 400,000 hams and then fewer and fewer numbers after that for the rest of the world. Oh I forgot one story. Back around 1955 or so I did a weekly radio program that was broadcast around the world over shortwave radio. It was broadcast over shortwave broadcast station WRUL in New York. I recorded at KMBC in Kansas City (MO) and it was sent to WRUL. Anyway each week as part of the program I would broadcast a radio signal from a satellite. Elmo Melton, I forget his call now, had a 45 rpm out with "The Sounds of Space" on it. He said I could use sound from his 45 rpm. Well Elmo Melton a ham found a number of times satellites in orbit that NASA had lost! He called them and gave them the information so they could find their missing satellites. 73, Jim NØUWY.

I grew up with police scanner in the background. But even if we can’t listen to it then it should all be recorded if possible.

This is super scary, we really do live in a police-state gone wild!

Nice explanation. How about doing a video explaining the difference between encryption and other things, such as DMR, NXDN, etc., that might make it hard for scanner enthusiasts to listen in. I think that some of these might often be confused with encryption. However, "keys" can be purchased for some of the scanners allowing for reception of these channels.

I agree with your points... Is there away to scan through encryption keys to find the ones for your areas?

Someone should start a petition lol, I'm down to sign 🤷🏽‍♂️ It will grow in the community and more people will hear about it and I'm sure everyone will sign off on it ...

You're so spot on! You should go to every city (especially the encrypted ones), and give taht speech to police chiefs/sheriffs. In my growing up county of Riverside CA, the sheriff has been crypto for five years now. I hear that in Phoenix, they allow dispatch and some tacs to come through but most stuff is encrypted. In your native Denver, even FIRE has encrypted ONLY because it would be easier to work with police B.S.! There need to be more bills of that kind and even on the next election. They always tell you to stay safe, but how can you stay safe if you have no clue what's going on in the world outside?

It would be reasonable if SWAT, Narcotics and Bomb squad etc. Used encryption but encrypting local police department dispatch is concerning

Yup. Bought my first Bearcat back in 1991. Upgraded to an AOR1000XLT, which I STILL have, and still works! I remember the hiss of DSP. So annoying. Still a boatload of analog out there though.

I think a balanced approach would be best. Highly sensitive information like swat and certain emergencies like a terror attack could be encrypted. Everything else should be available.

I’ve been listening to scanners my entire life and absolutely miss it now that my local Sheriff’s Department has changed to encryption across all bands even the Fire Department has done the same thing now. They should just offer a license to someone along with possibly a background check to make sure they aren’t up too no good while wanting to listen to their communications.

I agree that a dispatch channel should be unencrypted on all agencies, but one of the problems I'm seeing in our area is police going fully encrypted are not able to communicate with other agencies like fire and EMS thus when they are needed by those other agencies a lot of valuable time is wasted because they now have to go back through dispatch to get dispatch to contact the police and have them respond to what ever incident these other agencies are having on their incident or call, police having full encryption is equal to them having their own private community isolated from everyone not only the citizens of the community in which they serve, but also other agencies who were not authorized the use of encryption on their radios so they could communicate with police. So you understand what delay is caused by encryption between other agencies if fire and EMS need police right away just like calling 911 on your phone dispatch has too ask lots of questions of which ever agency that needs police as to the nature of their need, this allows escalation of the other agencies situation before police can even be dispatched, encryption is good for swat, or things going on that can endanger a police operation, but day to day operation not necessary

Sadly now we do not know who the "media" are and thus would make this situation even more difficult. The fact is Tax Payers pay the cost of policing and tax payers should have an opportunity for transparency.

You know being a ham operator for 30 plus years when I took the test they said that we have the legal right to monitor any or all frequencies well since they went to the p25 system any Crypt the scanners in that part of the downfall of being a ham operator all right 73

The po-po HATE oversight of any kind when it comes to them! PERIOD.

I heard one officer say (Do I need radar?) when they were changing over to 4wd when we had a major snowstorm

The audacity of law enforcement to believe that their general duties / patrols are so top secret they deserve to hide their radio traffic from their employers is astonishing to me. It should be a serious criminal offence to mask general radio traffic if you're a public servant.