Encryption FAQ
Why is the Tucson Police Department encrypting radio communications?
Technology has changed how readily police radio traffic can be accessed. Scanner apps and online streams allow anyone to listen in to sensitive police communications in real time. Encryption protects victims, witnesses, and juveniles from having their medical and other personally identifiable information from being broadcast publicly.
Does encryption reduce transparency?
No, transparency will continue through a public-facing dashboard that shows police call types, times, and general locations over the last 12 hours. The data is refreshed every 30 minutes, so you can check back on the hour and the half hour. The difference is that personal information and sensitive details will no longer be broadcast publicly.
Will the public still know what police are doing?
Yes, the public dashboard will show real-time police activity across the city. This allows the community to see what types of police calls are happening without exposing private information about victims or sensitive information about investigations.
Why can’t officers just switch to an encrypted channel when sharing sensitive information?
Using separate channels can slow communication, create confusion, and increase safety risks during emergencies. Encryption allows officers and dispatchers to communicate efficiently, while still protecting private and sensitive information.
Will media organizations lose access to information?
No, media outlets will continue to receive information through the Public Information Office, media releases, press briefings, and official updates. Radio recordings can also be requested through public records requests.
Without encryption, can suspects listen to police radio communications?
Yes, scanner apps and online feeds allow anyone to monitor police radio communications. This has created situations where suspects have accessed victim information and monitored police activity in real time.
Does encryption prevent cooperation with other agencies?
No, encryption keys can be shared with law enforcement and public safety partners that TPD has written agreements with, such as an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) or a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Dispatch can also connect encrypted and non-encrypted channels as necessary during joint operations.
Will interagency channels be encrypted?
No, interop channels will not be encrypted.
Are other police departments doing this?
Yes, many large police departments across the United States have moved to encrypted radio systems. Several major Arizona agencies, including Phoenix and Mesa, also use encrypted communications.
Will this affect emergency response times?
No, encryption does not change how officers respond to calls.
How will the public access radio recordings?
Radio recordings are public records. Members of the public can request them through the standard public records request process.
How much will it cost to implement encryption?
It doesn't cost anything to encrypt radio transmissions. This is a feature we have had access to on a limited basis in the past, but when we replaced our old radios (which were no longer supported by the vendor), encryption was included along with multiple other new features.
What was the purpose of the radio upgrade?
New radios were purchased primarily because the vendor was no longer supporting the existing radios, which had been using technology from 15 years ago. New technology and collaboration with Pima County Wireless Integrated Network (PCWIN) allow us to simultaneously use dozens of channels, locate colleagues via GPS, and even maintain communication in the event of a rare network outage.
What do the different call levels mean?
When you visit the public dashboard, you'll see calls for service broken down by levels. These definitions can also be found on the dashboard, by hovering over the i in a circle.
- Level 1 – Emergency Response: Event posing an immediate threat to life
- Level 2 – Critical Response: Event in progress or just occurred, involving imminent danger to life, or high potential for the situation to escalate to immiment danger to life
- Level 3 – Urgent Response: Crimes against persons, or property crime, where the incident may be in progress, has occurred within the past five minutes, is about to escalate to a more serious situation, or there is an increased probability of apprehending the suspect(s)
- Level 4 – General Response: Events or crimes that require a police response but do not present an imminent danger to life. Generally, the event has occurred more than 10 minutes before dispatch.
- Other – These levels (5-9, 0) do not call for an urgent response and include such situations as call backs, hang ups, alarms, transport, general broadcast, and various on-sight activities.