The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is working to transfer all radios to digitally encrypted channels by the end of this year. News photographers and Chicago reporters depend on live radio from the police scanners. They run after news stories looking to tell the public about what police officers are presently doing and what will be coming quickly to the end. They plan to limit the access to the public in the few ways the public is allowed access to police activity. For a very long time journalists have been listening to the traffic radios and CPD scanners for reliable news — when it occurs, what is happening, and where it takes place.
The vice chair for technology at the Department of Public Management and assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Adam Scott Wandt said that they need a change. They will have to eliminate citizens and the public around the entire U.S. having knowledge of what the police are doing. They want to end the public having easy access to such sensitive information.
Wandt stated that there’s a completely different category which is reporters that are in the media. He is a solid believer in government accountability and transparency. In his opinion, if the police lock the media out of live radio broadcasts, they would definitely reduce the level of responsibility that police departments will have to face. It surely troubled him.
CPD areas and zones that will become encoded will also still be available for citizens to listen to, but with a 30-minute delay on Broadcastify which is a live online audio platform. The city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) doesn’t have a contract with the service. Officials said that it hasn’t paid them any money to stream on the website, which allows it to be free to the public.
A spokesman for Broadcastify stated in an email going to Chicago officials asking the company to send all media questions and statements to the city. The Chicago officials declined to use other programs than confirming that they will be providing the broadcast services. The Broadcastify company has been working with the CPD and the city for about one year on the project, the spokesman added. The Broadcastify communications are direct audio feeds from the OEMC.
They also added because of the delay, dispatchers will have the ability to pause these transmissions when personal identification and information are being discussed, the office stated. The CPD and city stated the reason for this move was made in response to harmful “rogue radio” calls that place officers in very serious and dangerous situations. This is an instance of outside users interjecting statements and jibber-jabbering over police traffic. A few experts say taking away the long-used tool from reporters reduces clarity for the cases and/or situations.
Radios are a usual and handy tool in the company of law enforcement agencies, such as the CPD. They help to communicate with officers and synchronized statements and responses through the main central communications center. Chicago’s radio transmissions have long been accessible for the public to listen to if personally purchased and laid out scanners through online requests and applications.
There is a large group of people who listen to the scanners and have formed together on social media, specifically on Twitter. The listeners post about things they hear over the scanners, including, traffic, shootings, weather, and protests. The city had begun the process back in 2017 to secure public safety radios and prepare to move from analog encrypted channels to digitally encrypted channels with CPD listening in as well, as stated by the Office of Emergency Management and Communication.
By: Zaylah De La Torre
Sources:
Chicago Tribune: Chicago police joining national wave of encrypting radio communication, raising transparency concerns By Paige Fry
Political: Bailey keeps mum on Trump By SHIA KAPOS
Flipboard: Chicago police joining national wave of encrypting radio communication, raising transparency concerns
Featured Image Courtesy of Pete Jelliffe‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Mihnea Stanciu‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
