By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph Police Department has shifted its communications to encrypted radio traffic signals.
Police Chief Paul Luster says this move is something that has been done at other precincts across the country, a move designed to protect officers
“It protects sensitive information,” Luster says on the KFEQmunnity show. “So, that keeps tactical details, officer locations, investigative and confidential information.”
But also, and maybe more importantly Luster says, it protects privacy of residents
“That encryption ensures that sensitive details don’t leak to the public prematurely; it protects victim’s privacy,” Luster says.
Luster says one factor that played into the decision was scanners becoming more widely available through cell phone apps
“So, we had examples of officers running into criminals, whether it be on a car stop or something, that were actively listening to them, so suspects monitoring the police radio chatter so they can anticipate movements and no what’s going on,” Luster explains.
Luster says that information being so widely available can be dangerous to both officers and residents, using an active shooter investigation as an example
“You have an active shooter in a school and then I approach and say hey I’m making entry through the north door, now he knows police are coming through the north door, and so there’s just a lot of safety and privacy issues I think connected with that,” Luster says.
Luster says reception to the move has been 50-50, with many in support of the move, but also many against.
Luster says his department is still working on a way to make sure people are informed about where the police are for its website
“Anybody can get on and look at what’s called our live calls, so anybody can just say here’s where we’re at, but it’s scrubbed of all that PII, that personal identifying information, all that’s scrubbed of that,” Luster says. “Or any of maybe the tactical data, it’s scrubbed of that, but it still allows any citizen to see what we’re doing.”
Luster says police had hoped to have the service available when shifting over to these encrypted calls but ran into some issues and are continuing to work on rolling it out.
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