San Francisco finds an alternative to full encryption of police radios

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Brian
Posts: 1454
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:54 pm

San Francisco finds an alternative to full encryption of police radios

Post by Brian »

San Francisco finds an alternative to full encryption of police radios

The San Francisco Police Department plans to partially encrypt its radio transmissions when it moves to a digital system sometime after July 1, a police spokesman told the Post on Friday (May 21).
Dispatchers will use certain public channels to send officers to an incident, such as asking units to respond to 123 Main St. for a report of a robbery, according to SFPD spokesman Sgt. Michael Andraychak. Members of the public or the media will be able to hear those transmissions over a police scanner.
After units are dispatched, radio communications regarding the incident will be encrypted and the public won’t be able to listen in, Andraychak said.
But at the conclusion of the incident, dispatchers will state on an unencrypted channel what the outcome was, for example, officers took a report or made an arrest.

Officers will use another set of channels to check a person’s driver’s license information or criminal history, Andraychak said. Those channels will be encrypted.

“It’s sort of striking a balance,” Andraychak said of the new system.

https://padailypost.com/2021/05/24/san- ... ice-radios


Mayor says that encrypting police radio signals was a mistake
January 11, 2021
https://padailypost.com/2021/01/11/mayo ... a-mistake/
Brian
Posts: 1454
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:54 pm

Police agencies in San Diego County move toward encryption of two-way radio traffic

Post by Brian »

Police agencies in San Diego County move toward encryption of scanner traffic

The San Diego Police Department is the only agency that won’t move toward full encryption

The order came after the California Department of Justice and FBI reviewed state and federal regulations in light of controversy after cities in eastern Riverside County cut off public access to scanner traffic in late 2018.

In response to the order, law enforcement agencies across the state — including Long Beach, San Jose and Oakland — have moved toward encryption.

The San Francisco Police Department seems to have struck a balance — to a degree. Dispatchers will unencrypt channels to send officers to calls, then switch back to encryption. When incidents come to end, dispatchers will unencrypt channels and broadcast how the call was resolved, Sgt. Michael Andraychak said.

Several police officials said news media will continue to have access to information about emergencies. They pointed to various avenues their departments use to disseminate information: spokespersons, news releases, social media and Nixel, a platform that enables alerts via email and text messages.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/ne ... -heres-why


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Police departments across the state flooded DOJ with correspondence about police radio encryption
July 28, 2021

The information from the DOJ came in response to a public records request from the Post, which asked for all written communications from June to mid-October last year regarding police radio encryption

https://padailypost.com/2021/07/28/poli ... ncryption/

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DATE/TIME: NUMBER: SUBJECT:
SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT ORDER
DECEMBER 2, 2020 1715 HOURS OR 20-43
PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION OVER ENCRYPTED RADIO FREQUENCIES
1914131612
ALL MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT
COST CENTER:
SCOPE:
DEPARTMENT PROCEDURE AFFECTED: 2.01
Law enforcement agencies authorized by the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) to access the CLETS system must adhere to the CLETS policies and procedures and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data transmitted on radio talkgroups. One portion of this security policy is that each agency must transmit Personal Identifying Information (PII) via encrypted radio frequencies.
PII is any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as an individual’s first name, or first initial, and last name combined with any one or more of the following data elements: date of birth, social security number, passport number, military ID, and/or ID numbers issued on government documents. This information shall not be aired on any non-encrypted talkgroup.
To comply with the FBI CJIS standard, any Department member needing to run an inquiry where PII will be aired over the radio (such as a Driver’s License or warrant check) shall switch to Inquiry 1 (INQ 1), Inquiry 2 (INQ 2), or PEO Dispatch (PEO DIS). These talkgroups are encrypted to protect personal identifying information. No other frequencies shall be used to broadcast this type of information except that which is vital for officer and public safety such as the airing of information associated with a wanted suspect.
INQ 1 is the primary Inquiry talkgroup and is to be used for information on the registered owners of vehicles, driver’s license checks, wanted persons, and stolen property. Department members shall not utilize INQ 2 unless advised to do so by a dispatcher. PEO personnel primarily operate off PEO DIS for dispatches and inquiries. Non-PEOs members shall not use this frequency unless advised to do so by a dispatcher
Brian
Posts: 1454
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:54 pm

Palo Alto police set to remove radio encryption

Post by Brian »

Palo Alto police set to remove radio encryption
Proposed policy change would restore public access to communications
Aug 4, 2022

The Palo Alto Police Department, which moved abruptly in January 2021 to fully encrypt its radio communications, is preparing to reverse the controversial policy, acting Chief Andrew Binder told this news organization.

Binder, whose permanent appointment to the police chief position is scheduled to take place this Monday, said he plans to make the department's primary dispatch channel unencrypted in the coming weeks. The new policy providing real-time radio access to police communications would take effect no later than Sept. 1, according to Binder.
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/202 ... encryption

https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/News-Art ... ce-Actions

https://nixle.us/DST68

https://twitter.com/PaloAltoPolice/stat ... 0330235905
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