[Baltimore Sun] Police want to hide their radio communications. The public should have a say. | STAFF COMMENTARY
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Across Maryland, law enforcement agencies are making dramatic changes to their communication practices, and they’re not aimed at increasing transparency. One by one, county sheriff’s offices and city police departments are moving their radio communications from open frequencies that anyone can tune into to closed, encrypted ones that only police can monitor.
This month, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office announced it transitioned to encrypted communications channels. Next month, Anne Arundel County Police will encrypt its transmissions, shrouding the communications of the Annapolis Police Department and the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office, which use the same radio towers.
These agencies are embracing what is seemingly becoming the new normal in police communications in Maryland and across the country. Ocean City Police and other Worcester County agencies encrypted their communications earlier this year, and the Baltimore Police Department did the same last year. No longer can an average Joe tune in to what the police are saying to each other in major cities including Denver, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
The argument law enforcement agencies make for encrypting police radio frequencies generally focuses on preserving two interests: public safety and personal privacy. In explaining its decision to encrypt communications, the Harford County Sherriff’s Office cited the case of a barricade situation last year in Fallston, in which members of the public listening to police scanners eagerly reported updates to social media that the suspect could have seen. The sheriff’s office also said crime scene details from the murder of Rachel Morin made their way from police radios to online, where Morin’s friends and family were exposed to the disturbing content.
These are valid and serious concerns that have only become more pressing in recent years. Decades ago, listening in on police radios was reserved mostly for news organizations trying to be first to a story and a few dedicated hobbyists using specialized and expensive radio equipment. In the digital age, however, unencrypted police radio broadcasts can be found streaming live on websites where anyone around the world with potentially ignoble motives can easily tune in. During the barricade in Fallston, per the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, more than 20,000 listeners were tuned into police radio using one such open platform.
While instances of bad actors listening in on the police and causing harm appear infrequent, the threat of terrorists and criminals monitoring communications to anticipate police movements, or scammers picking up personal details to blackmail or steal identities, is inherent in unencrypted police radio and demands precautions. But shutting off public access to police communications comes at a greater cost than just radio hobbyists’ enjoyment.
When journalists lose their ability to listen to police radio, they’re less able to keep the public up to date and informed about situations of the public’s concern — road accidents, mass shootings, natural disasters and protest demonstrations, for instance. Beyond being a source for minute-to-minute updates on concerns to public safety, access to police radio communications has long helped journalists to paint a full story of major historical events, from the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to the law enforcement response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. With encrypted communications, some stories will be delayed by weeks as journalists work to obtain copies of recordings, meaning the public will wait that long without answers to vital questions.
Crucially, police radio communications give the media oversight of law enforcement and shed light on wrongdoing. The New York Daily News obtained video of the death of Eric Garner in New York Police Department custody because a reporter listening to police radio was able to quickly get to the scene and speak to bystanders who helped him track down a man who filmed Garner’s death.
It’s no mystery that police agencies have an interest in concealing their communications to hide from scrutiny. Reports of Maryland state officials using encrypted messaging apps to protect their communications from public disclosure should remind us that public figures are always searching for new ways to operate in the dark, and an environment of transparency can be lost if it is not constantly pursued and defended.
It’s up to lawmakers to demand police agencies address their concerns about public access to police radio in a way that doesn’t compromise transparency. The Baltimore Police Department’s approach, in which communications are encrypted but the public has access to the broadcasts with a 15-minute delay, isn’t great for up-to-the-minute updates on police activity but is far more transparent than what Harford and Anne Arundel counties are pursuing.
The protection of safety and privacy has always been a concern when it comes to public disclosure, but we’ve never accepted that as an excuse to jettison transparency and freedom of information. They matter too.
Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.
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