Johnson County police to encrypt radio scanners, sparking transparency concerns | Opinion

“Beginning on January 23, 2024, the following Johnson County police agencies will begin full encryption of their radio communications.”

So began a media release sent out on Dec. 21, the Thursday before the Christmas holiday weekend. It’s safe to say that not a lot of people saw the initial release. And those who did might not have understood the full ramifications of this announcement.

It means that police are turning off public audio of police scanners in 13 communities: Blue Valley School District, Fairway, Leawood, Lenexa, Merriam, Mission, Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Shawnee Mission School District, Shawnee and Westwood.

Hold on. You might not listen to police scanners, or live in these areas, but you just might care about what seems to be the latest effort to obscure transparency by police departments.

Scanners provide information to journalists, who use that to inform the public, but also community leaders and others. And there is no law against the broadcasting of that information, just as it’s legal to listen.

So why is Johnson County, like Kansas City and many other law enforcement agencies, turning to encryption?

Police cite privacy issues, but media agencies are worried.

The Radio Television Digital News Association, the largest professional organization devoted to broadcasting and digital journalism, is concerned about the upward trend, and so should we all be.

Law enforcement overreaction post-George Floyd

“It’s an overreaction on their part. (Police) are doing it because they can, not because they have to,” said Dan Shelley, president and CEO. He called it “a pandemic of lack of transparency that seems to have been escalating in the post-George Floyd era.”

Shelley said law enforcement is becoming more secretive, the opposite of a need for more transparency. He called for “real-time transmissions that don’t compromise officer’s safety and don’t reveal health information.”

Encryption is happening across the country. Kansas City has already encrypted its public radio scanner. Cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago have gone dark.

According to Shelley, he reached out to all RTDNA media members in the greater Kansas City area, and encouraged them to speak with the 13 Johnson County law enforcement agencies.

The sender of the press release, Danny Chavez, master police officer and public relations officer for the Lenexa Police Department, says that’s news to him.

“In the 15 days since we issued the press release, this is the first media communication we have received expressing concern. We value our relationship with members of the media and will continue to work with them to provide information,” he said, referring to our request.

If that is true, then let us fire the first salvo. The Star is deeply concerned about a lack of transparency between police and the media. We would like to begin a dialogue between media and law enforcement agencies to make radio scanner information more accessible and consistent.

Abuse of law enforcement power at Marion County Record

Last year, local media went head-to-head with police as Marion, Kansas, officers unjustly raided the offices of the Marion County Record, a weekly newspaper, as well as the home of its publishers and a City Council member. The Star discovered several questionable actions by those involved, including the police chief and magistrate judge in the case, which attracted national and international coverage.

Bernie Rhodes, attorney for the Marion County Record and The Star, underlined why complete transparency between police and the public is important.

“The police can bust you down, seize your property, throw you in jail, and even shoot and kill you if justified. And as we learned from what the police did in Marion, Kansas, they don’t always do those things with good intentions. If we’ve learned anything, it’s that there should be more transparency regarding the police, not less.”

Johnson County police’s December release cited concern for secure FBI information that might get out as the most recent justifcation for encryption. But its sender, officer Chavez, said the move also was made for overall privacy reasons.

“This is not just a matter of criminal records, but also one of citizen privacy even during the course of routine police calls,” Chavez said via email.

He explained that even on routine calls, dispatchers provide responding officers with as much information as they can so that officers understand the nature of the call. “For example, we may get dispatched to the ‘Smith’ residence at ‘12345 Oak Street’ on the report of 13-year-old ‘Suzie’ who is suicidal and has cut herself.”

This example, he said, shows how sensitive private or health information could be revealed to the public.

But why not use a separate encrypted channel for this type of sensitive information while leaving regular calls on the radios unscrambled? Chavez said the problem remains. “Yes, we do have encrypted channels that we can run background checks or discuss tactical procedures on a call, but even the basic dispatching of routine calls provides for the airing of private citizen information.”

In other cities, media have asked for options, such as delays or encrypted channels dedicated to tactical and other sensitive information while keeping other channels open.

Models of compromise in Chicago, Las Vegas?

In Chicago, media pushed back. WGN Investigate’s Ben Bradley aired a story on working with police. “Listening to police scanners is how journalists first learn about crime and catastrophes that threaten the public. There’s been a quiet back and forth between members of the Chicago media and the city for months as we argue that we are the eyes and ears of the public and by locking us out of real-time access to police activity, the city is also blocking you from knowing what’s happening in Chicago.”

In response, Chicago police created a channel for the public based on a 30-minute delay. Not great for breaking news, but better than nothing.

In Las Vegas, police encrypted its radio but continued to give media outlets access to metro channels, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

In Lenexa, Chavez said that based on feedback they had heard from citizens, the police department has created a Dispatch Call Log on its website, similar to one used by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Lenexa’s is linked to a community crime map.

The Lenexa Police Calls for Service webpage logs a list of calls with case number, call time, nature of the call, location and disposition of the case. A paragraph above the list explains what’s shown: “Call descriptions are based on the initial information given to our dispatch center from the original caller and do not necessarily reflect the final outcome of the investigation. Due to the sensitive nature, sex offenses and certain offenses involving juveniles are not included in this list.”

Kansas City Police public information officer Alayna Gonzalez told us, “When KCPD encrypted all radio traffic, a program called Active Events was created to provide news outlets basic information on calls for service throughout the city.”

Blocking journalism enables bad government

In greater Kansas City, you can listen to some law enforcement agencies on the website Broadcastify.com, billed as the “world’s largest source of public safety, aircraft, rail and marine radio live audio streams.” Problem is, Broadcastify’s list of law enforcement agencies is outdated. It says KCPD always streams, but as we’ve reported, Kansas City encrypts.

It’s true that police radio doesn’t get thousands of people tuning in. But that shouldn’t matter. Journalists and anyone who wants to listen should be able to.

We aren’t calling for all police transmissions to be public. RTDNA’s Dan Shelley put it best: “We as journalists don’t want to be involved in compromising officers’ or citizen’s safety by interfering in tact situations. We understand those are complicated and dangerous. Leave tactical channels encrypted. Leave encrypted transmissions that could reveal health information. Everything else should be left open in real time in their communities.”

The Freedom of the Press Foundation believes we are seeing this change because “news reporting on crime puts pressure on government officials responsible for combating it. Making it harder for journalists to report about crime makes it easier for governments to sweep it — and information about what police are up to — under the rug.”

Shelley hopes meaningful conversations between media and Johnson County police will occur between now and Jan. 23.

If not, more police radio airwaves will go dark and shut down opportunities for journalists to know what is happening. We call for these agencies to delay the date and provide non-encrypted channels for journalists, at the very least.