One Of Minnesota’s Largest Police Forces Is Going Encrypted

One of Minnesota's largest police forces is going to encrypted radio, which will leave those wanting to monitor what is happening in their neighborhood/city in the dark. The Minneapolis Police will make the move to fully encrypted radios by May 1st.

The Minneapolis Police Department is making the move as the City is seeking to comply with state data laws. According to KSTP-TV, the move is being made "to comply with state data privacy regulations and 'providing additional safety and privacy for both first responders and residents.'"

The move also means that those who monitor the police channels won't be aware of what's going on, leaving just the police department to release information on situations that occur within the city.

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To remain as transparent as possible, the City of Minneapolis is launching a 911 Emergency Incidents Dashboard. The dashboard, according to a statement from the City of Minneapolis,  will update every half hour with:

• 911 calls over the last 12 hours.

• Mapped location of incidents.

• Incidents categorized into police, fire, and BCR calls.

• Incidents categorized by date, agency, neighborhood, or problem code.

Minneapolis also indicated that "any 911 incidents older than 12 hours will be included in a separate dashboard of archived calls for service."

The police force isn't fully encrypted yet, as it tests the new system over the next two weeks. By May 1st, however, the channel will be fully encrypted, leaving residents just the new dashboard to figure out what's going on in their neighborhoods.

The release from the City of Minneapolis ended with a note to the public about their commitment to the residents:

"The Minneapolis Police Department’s Public Information Office will continue to verify news tips and safety information, and notification of an incident of note will be made through the appropriate social media channels and phone calls, as is currently the standard. "

I've got nothing against members of law enforcement, but I am troubled that we are seeing so many cities across the US go to encrypted channels. A statement from the Radio Television Digital News Association summarizes exactly my feelings on this change.

"The move to encrypt police scanner communications puts the public – and the newsrooms that serve them by seeking and reporting the truth – at risk.  We do not want to jeopardize officer safety or listen to private medical information about identifiable individuals on police scanners. We, like police departments across America, want to keep our communities safe and informed, but encrypting police communications has the opposite effect – harming government transparency and impeding the public’s access to information." RTDNA 2023