For 13 Johnson County police agencies and hundreds of listeners to police radio scanners and phone apps, Jan. 23 will be “Encryption Day.” Law enforcement officials see it as the day they take back control over how much of their operations — including sensitive private information on the people they encounter — will go out over airwaves to be noted by anyone with the right technology. Scanner listeners, including some local crime journalists, see it differently. To them, “Encryption Day” will be the day the lights dim over police transparency, the day their desktop scanners become expensive paperweights and phone apps all but useless in finding out what’s going in real time with local law enforcement. “Once encryption happens, there is no expectation of accountability to the public about any agency’s action. At least not in any meaningful way,” wrote Cartherine Kost, administrator of the Johnson County KS Community and Police Scanner Group, in an email to the Post. “The public has the right to know what is happening in their communities. We have the right to have oversight of our governmental affairs. Encryption is one less way that we as citizens will be able to observe agencies and demand accountability,” she added. Encryption — which blocks listeners from hearing what police and dispatchers say over the radio — is nothing new. Most local agencies already use some encryption on certain tactical channels. The primary channels on which initial calls go out, however, have remained audible for members of the general public to hear if they have scanners. That’s what’s about to change. Lenexa’s police department recently announced over the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that 13 agencies will begin encrypting their primary channels. Those agencies include Blue Valley School District Police, Shawnee Mission School District Police, and the city police departments of Olathe, Overland Park, Shawnee, Lenexa, Leawood, Merriam, Fairway, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Mission and Westwood.
Source: KCUR News
