Slowly, government agencies all over the USA are switching to digital and often encrypted radio transmissions. The use of encryption and non-monitorable radio systems by government agencies must end.
In many communities, police, fire and other emergency radio signals have been monitored by reporters, private citizens and other government employees since they started to be used. Now there are several radio systems in use by public agencies that "can not" be monitored (typically they are proprietary and techical information is not available) or they have switched to digitally encrypted signals. Federal law prohibits monitoring encrypted signals.
To make this situation even worse; billions of taxpayer money is being used (even during this poor economy) to purchase and install these overly complex radio systems.
Comments (2)
Encryption should be available to federal enforcement agencies such as FBI, ATF, Secret Service, etc., but NOT agencies such as NWS, NPS, BLM, etc. no matter how "sensitive" their bureaucrats think their own communications are.
The main push behind digital transmission and encrypted is that the agencies can better communicate with less traffic to deal with.
If they go digital and encrypted then they alone will hear their transmission.The ATF should be disbanded along with the DEA and ONDCP.
None of the agencies are permitted by the Constitution and thus their duties should be left to the States or to the People respectively.