Soon there will be a little less chatter to monitor on police scanners.
Beginning Monday, the Crawfordsville Police Department plans to fully encrypt all its communications, which means no one from the public or the media will be able to listen in on their radio traffic from a scanner or smartphone app.
The change was spearheaded by Assistant Police Chief Ryan Teeter and approved by the department’s administration.
Mayor Todd Barton also signed off on the encryption changes after he said Teeter and Police Chief Aaron Mattingly demonstrated justifiable cause based on officer safety.
“In addition, there are growing concerns about the privacy of those with whom law enforcement interacts,” Barton said. “In fact, there have been recent court rulings limiting the amount of information that can be transmitted over communications systems that are not encrypted, when it comes to law enforcement interaction with those under the age of 18.”
The law Barton referred to prohibits broadcasting social security numbers and names of minors over the radio.
Sherri Hill, director of the Central Communications Center, said that information is already encrypted and not disclosed over the airwaves.
“We’re just very minimal of what we say over the radio,” Hill said.
Other sensitive information, like SWAT activities, also is already fully encrypted. That change took place more than four years ago.
FOLLOWERS
Teeter stressed the recent change is being made to protect sensitive information and to enhance officer safety.
“We have seen increased instances of citizens showing up to our calls,” he said. “And [Facebook] scanner pages putting information out that’s heard over the scanner.”
Teeter added these social media pages have created concern for the safety of CPD officers.
Teeter did not cite any specific incident. He also confirmed that no CPD officer has been
injured because of information being broadcast over the radio or shared on social media.
Furthermore, CPD has not arrested any individual for unlawful encroachment of an investigation. Indiana law states members of the public must remain at least 25 feet from an active investigation.
Currently, there are several pages and or groups on Facebook whose administrators listen to scanners and immediately post information from these police, fire, and medical calls for their followers.
Jason Spurlock is one of those Facebook page/group administrators. The Crawfordsville man is known to be critical of police. He runs multiple pages tracking CPD activities and often videos officers responding to calls.
“I use the scanner mostly to help generate more police accountability in the community,” Spurlock said. “When the police know folks are watching and listening, they likely follow policy and the rules better.”
Dave Arland, executive director for the Indiana Broadcasters Association, said encryption of police transmissions is a step backward in public transparency.
“Especially because the public funds the radios, buys the dispatching equipment, and pays the public safety personnel,” Arland said.
Not only does a fully encrypted channel shut down home monitors, but it also prohibits the media from listening to police communication and thus impacts their ability to inform the public.
“I grew up in Crawfordsville in the late 1960’s, and while Crawfordsville is still a small community the need to keep people informed has not changed,” Arland said.
Nicole Brann, another local resident who administers the Scanner Static for Montgomery County, IN, Facebook page, said she uses her page to help make people aware of traffic delays and crashes.
“Many times, I have heard where law enforcement might be and can avoid delays to work or appointments,” she said. “I can give a heads up to others to avoid the area.”
Although Spurlock’s main reason for tracking police activities is for accountability, he believes public access to CPD’s radio traffic is needed.
“There’s a lot of useful information [dispatched] for the community to help keep them safe too,” Spurlock said. “So, the scanner has a lot of value in the sense it helps keep the public informed of any emergencies or threats going on in town.”
Alan Homsher is an administrator for the Montgomery County Scanner page on Facebook. He believes the public has a right to know what is going on in the community — within reason.
“I don’t post everything that goes on, but try to post the highlights,” Homsher said. “Having been in public service myself, I use a great deal of discretion in what I post.”
Homsher doesn’t post addresses in most cases, including medical calls.
“Missing persons, pursuits (for public safety awareness), fire and EMS responses I do [post],” he said. “While these won’t be affected, pursuits are important because if law enforcement loses sight of their target someone following on their scanner may observe the target vehicle and report its location.”
TRENDING
“This [encryption] is becoming far more common, not only in Indiana, but across the country,” Teeter said.
Police radio transmissions in Hendricks County went fully encrypted in November 2022. Hamilton County followed suit in July 2023. However, Hendricks County officials acknowledged that access to radio dispatch audio is valuable to the media and the public and developed a plan to provide police radio transmissions publicly through a web stream on a 15-minute delay.
Teeter said CPD has no intention of providing any such service.
Members of the public and media will still be able to hear radio transmissions from other area agencies, including Indiana State Police, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Crawfordsville Fire/EMS, and local volunteer fire departments.
Sheriff Ryan Needham said his department’s radio traffic will not be encrypted. Crawfordsville Fire Chief Scott Busenbark also reported he has no plans to encrypt their communication.
