“We actually have arrested people, they’ve had the smartphone on them and we could hear our own dispatchers, the sound coming from their smartphone.”
“You’ve always had people that had scanners, but it was not as common as the smartphone apps,” said Mr. DeBusk, the police spokesman, said the prevalence of smartphone apps that broadcast police communications, such as Broadcastify, has made it easier for criminals to listen in. “There are six or seven times a year where I avoid a dangerous situations where I know what’s going on,” he said. Wareham, a former police officer, said he uses his scanner to find out about police activity in his neighborhood or on the roads. “These are government agents working for the taxpayers and I think citizens have the right to know what they’re doing,” said Robert Wareham, an attorney who helped draft the bill. The bill failed with strong opposition from law enforcement. In Colorado, a push to encrypt police radio traffic inspired a bill backed by scanner enthusiasts earlier this year that would have banned encryption, except for sensitive situations. Some police departments have found a solution by using encrypted channels for more sensitive work, such as a SWAT team readying for a raid, while keeping the more mundane police patrol work on the publicly available channel, he said. “It’s a tough choice because many of the pro-police people out in the community who support their local police get that way because they listen to their police on these scanners or phone apps,” said Richard Myers, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Many scanner buffs are police supporters who want to help solve crimes, making the decision to go dark a difficult one, police officials say. These moves have rankled scanner enthusiasts who range from people curious about police activity in their neighborhood to modern-day Weegees, the New York City freelance photographer known for his raw crime-scene photos. In Knoxville, the radio traffic will be posted after a one-hour delay, said Mr.
Local media still has access to the live radio transmissions in Las Vegas-police allow them to purchase their own radios. “When you’re putting out information that only a suspect and a victim and an officer knows, then all of the sudden you have someone put that on social media, that takes your advantage away,” said Darrell DeBusk, a Knoxville police spokesman.Įarlier this year, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department encrypted its radio traffic, alleging that bad guys “monitor police radio frequencies in order to better facilitate their crimes and gather intelligence about the whereabouts of police officers.” Pueblo, Colo., police blocked their scanner traffic recently, citing suspects using scanner apps to avoid officers. Police say the effort will keep officers safe and bad guys from finding out what they’re doing. The move comes as more police departments around the country are seeking to shield their live radio communications, now easily accessible via smartphone apps. Social-media groups like Knoxville Crime are one reason that Knoxville police officials say they will begin encrypting police radio communications in August, making it impossible for the public-and Mr.
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