Cloud Hosting

Baltimores days of residents and reporters listening to live police radio traffic and monitoring developments in real-time are numbered.

Beginning Thursday, the Baltimore Police Department plans to encrypt its radio traffic and implement a 15-minute delay on live radio broadcasts available only on the Broadcastify platform, accessible online or via mobile app.

Old scanners will no longer pick up the police radio signal, officials said. Interested listeners instead must use Broadcastify, which comes at no cost to the department or to members of the public. A paid premium subscription to the site allows for access to archived radio footage.

Police officials said Thursday the move would enhance officer safety by preventing suspects from hearing strategies or monitoring the real-time activities of officers while also maintaining transparency for the public. Baltimore Police wont have access to alter or edit the radio transmission before it goes to Broadcastify.

But transparency and news media advocates worry it will present a barrier to the publics understanding of real-time events. Fifteen minutes doesnt sound like a long delay until its a critical incident or means no one left to interview at a scene, said Rebecca Snyder, the director of the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association.

Baltimore City spent time and effort becoming more accountable to the public, Snyder said. This is a step backward, saying, Well take care of it, dont you worry.

The Baltimore Police Departments move follows other large agencies across the country, including in Denver; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Las Vegas, New Orleans and cities in California. Its also under consideration in New York City and Indianapolis.

Louisville Metro Police, like Baltimore Police, implemented a 15-minute delay last year, saying it would allow officers to keep scenes as safe as possible. Others have opted to encrypt the transmissions entirely, or to block them off to everyone except for some media outlets.

[Baltimore Police moving to encrypt scanner transmissions, keeping public from hearing calls]

Baltimore officials said they had discussed encrypting the radio broadcast altogether and giving trusted media partners a radio to listen live, but determined the best route was to ensure access to the transmissions for the entire public just on a delay.

Breaking News Alerts

As it happens

Be informed of breaking news as it happens and notified about other don't-miss content with our free news alerts.

This is the way we feel like we can strike a balance said Eric Melancon, Baltimore Polices deputy commissioner of the compliance bureau. Were ensuring were protecting our officers, ensuring that the radio transmissions are still accessible and transparent to the public. But again, doing it in a way thats much more modernized, and in a practice that matches other large jurisdictions.

Melancon said the department had consulted with the U.S. Department of Justice and the citys consent decree monitoring team. The city entered a consent decree with the Justice Department in 2017 to address unconstitutional policing practices identified in a 2016 report. The DOJ and monitoring team, he said, found the move was in alignment with the consent decrees goals of transparency.

All radio communications will be available on the 15-minute delay, with one exception: The departments Special Weapons and Tactics team, known as a SWAT team, will not be broadcast, officials said.

The timed encryption, police said, also will make communicating with other law enforcement agencies easier, since some partner agencies already have encrypted radio transmissions.

The move has led to pushback in other cities from transparency advocates, such as journalism groups. The Radio Television Digital News Association, a professional organization for broadcast and digital journalists, for example, has said the consequence of encryption is to prevent the public from accessing information about the activities of police in real-time.

These communications provide individuals and newsrooms with essential updates on issues happening in their communities, such as violent crime, hazardous conditions or officer-involved shootings, the organization said on its website. The move to encrypt police scanners puts the public and the newsrooms that serve them by seeking and reporting the truth at risk.

Snyder, too, said its important for transparency advocates to be vigilant and be sure the notion of encroaching on transparency in the name of safety doesnt become overused.

Read this article:
Baltimore Police to encrypt radio transmissions and offer public access on 15-minute delay - Baltimore Sun