![]() The memo recommends using encrypted channels, much like Portland police decided to do eight days earlier. The document, obtained through a public records request by The Oregonian/OregonLive, was sent to Wheeler’s public safety adviser Robert King and Aaron Fox, Portland Bureau of Emergency Management operations specialist. Radio traffic “helps news organizations inform readers and viewers about public safety incidents while ensuring accountability and transparency from the police and fire departments that respond,” the group said.Ī joint Department of Homeland Security and National Capital Region Threat Intelligence Consortium memo sent to Portland officials June 11 discusses the topic of encrypting radio traffic and signals what may be a national trend toward encryption. PORTLAND POLICE SCANNER PROFESSIONALThe Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, based in Minneapolis, decided to encrypt its radio communications in October, prompting criticism from the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists. Yin said the question is especially prescient if police departments are pursuing the change permanently, rather than as a temporary response to protests and civil unrest.ĭenver police began encrypting radio traffic in July 2019, drawing rebuke from journalists. However, Yin said, the decision is tied into a larger philosophical question: whether police feel they can trust the public or whether they frame their operations and interactions with the public in terms of an “us vs. Tung Yin, a law professor at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, said police are likely legally able to encrypt radio communications because of public record exemptions for officer safety. Portland Fire and Rescue’s radio traffic is still publicly available. Officials also discussed making confidential medical information that is often discussed by fire and emergency medical services. A spokesperson for Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who oversees fire and emergency communications, declined to answer any questions.ĭan Douthit, a spokesperson for the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, said dispatch officials met with Portland police and other “regional partners,” to discuss encryption to “protect officer safety” in April and May. Mayor Ted Wheeler, the city’s police commissioner, has not responded to questions about the shift and its impact on the police transparency. The change was first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. “Although the plan was not complete, we did switch over to nets that were already encrypted shortly after the protests began,” Carmon said in an email. ![]()
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