The Montgomery County police department is moving forward with plans to encrypt all radio channels, including dispatch, within the next 60 to 90 days, Assistant Chief Darren Francke of the department’s Patrol Services Bureau said in a statement Thursday evening.
Encrypting all radio channels and dispatch means transmissions that are currently available for the public to listen to via police scanner apps and websites such as OpenMHz.com will no longer be available.
The department’s decision to encrypt its transmissions stems from “following national best practices,” but it is also an effort to protect potential victims and witnesses and enhance officer safety, Francke said.
In recent years, law enforcement agencies around the country, including the New York Police Department, moved to encrypt its emergency communications and radio channels despite critics saying that it will impact transparency. The Baltimore Police Department encrypted its channels in 2023 but made them available to the public with a 15-minute delay.
“Like other law enforcement agencies in the state of Maryland and across the country, MCPD’s move to full encryption will allow us to better protect victims and witnesses of criminal activity by ensuring the confidentiality of private information,” Francke said.
Bethesda Today reached out Thursday to the Office of County Executive Marc Elrich and is waiting for a response Friday. In addition, County Councilmembers on the Public Safety Committee, including Chair Sidney Katz (Dist. 3), Dawn Luedtke (Dist. 7) and Kristin Mink (Dist. 5) did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s request for comment.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) does not plan to encrypt its radio transmissions, spokesperson Pete Piringer told Bethesda Today in a text message.
The decision to encrypt radio transmissions is also related to privacy and ensuring that personal or “sensitive” information about victims and witnesses is not available to the public, according to Francke.
“Currently, personally identifiable information pertaining to citizens through over-the-air criminal inquiries, traffic-stop related inquiries, and dispatch call and location history is being broadcast in the clear,” Francke said.
Another reason for the move, Francke said, is to “ensure operational, tactical, and investigative integrity for our officers” and “remove the ability for criminals to intercept transmissions” and get information about police tactics and investigations.
According to Francke, the department has confirmed situations in which criminals have listened to the department’s unencrypted radio channels. The department did not respond to Bethesda Today’s request for details and specific cases in which a criminal has listened to the department’s radio traffic.
Francke also said the department believes encryption will “deter” so-called swatting calls designed to lure law enforcement to the homes of elected and appointed officials, business executives and high-profile residents who live in the county.
“These calls jeopardize the safety of responding officers and innocent/unaware residents,” Francke said.
The process of changing over to fully encrypted radio channels has already started, according to Francke. The change will take place over the next 60 to 90 days and it will not happen all at once.
After the full encryption is complete, Francke said, all department dispatch channels will be “recorded and available” through Maryland Public Information Act requests.
The department’s public information officer “will continue to provide timely, accurate, and transparent information on incidents throughout the county to the media and through our social media platforms,” Francke said.
Read Assistant Chief Francke’s full statement below:
“The Montgomery County Department of Police is proceeding with a plan to encrypt all radio channels, to include dispatch channels. In following national best practices, the department is working to encrypt its emergency communications channels to protect potential victims and witnesses, while also enhancing officer safety. Encryption has been a national best practice for police communications since 2016 and other departments in the state, the National Capital Region and throughout the country have adopted this approach. Like other law enforcement agencies in the state of Maryland and across the country, MCPD’s move to full encryption will allow us to better protect victims and witnesses of criminal activity by ensuring the confidentiality of private information. This includes protecting the personal information of some of our residents with health challenges. Encryption helps law enforcement agencies manage the many risks associated with sensitive information in our response to a wide variety of emergency calls for service.
Currently, personally identifiable information pertaining to citizens through over-the-air criminal inquiries, traffic-stop related inquiries, and dispatch call and location history is being broadcast in the clear. Moving to encrypt our emergency communication will allow the department to take one step towards recommendations (or compliance) from the Federal Partnership for Interoperable Communications (FPIC).
Encrypted radio traffic will not only help protect potential victims and witnesses, but it will also help ensure operational, tactical, and investigative integrity for our officers. MCPD moving to encrypted radio traffic will protect its radio transmissions and remove the ability for criminals to intercept transmissions, allowing them to get detailed information on police tactics and investigative activity. There are numerous free scanner Apps available where anyone can listen to MCPD radio traffic in real time on a smartphone. The department has confirmed instances of criminal elements actively listening to department unencrypted radio channels. The department also believes that encryption will deter criminal acts such as placing SWAT’ing calls at homes of elected officials, appointed officials, business executives, and other high-profile residents in Montgomery County. These calls jeopardize the safety of responding officers and innocent/unaware residents.
The changeover has been planned and the process started. This change will be phased in over the next 60 to 90 days. It is not an all at once switch, the change goes radio by radio. What anyone with a scanner will possibly hear while the process goes on is an incomplete conversation as those who are encrypted talk to those that are not. Gradually our radio traffic on scanners will diminish until transmissions are heard no more. We will have complete recordings of all radio traffic for all MPIA or evidence needs.
MCPD will not be alone in the region as other police departments have encrypted their dispatch communications or have plans to encrypt them in the immediate future. MCPD dispatch channels will continue to be recorded and available through MPIA Requests. MCPD PIO will continue to provide timely, accurate, and transparent information on incidents throughout the county to the media and through our social media platforms. As always, MCPD will continue to build trust, balancing transparency with the safety of victims, witnesses and our officers.
Maryland and Regional Law Enforcement Agencies Who Are Encrypted Or Will Be In The Near Future:
- Anne Arundel County Police Department
- Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office
- Annapolis Police
- Allegany County
- Washington County
- Baltimore City
- Saint Mary’s County
- Cecil County
- Kent County
- Queen Anne’s County
- Caroline County
- Talbot County
- Dorchester County
- Somerset County
- Worcester County
- Ocean City Police
- Cambridge Police
- Easton Police
- Elkton Police
- Hancock Police
- Princess Anne Police
- Smithsburg Police
- University of Maryland Eastern Shore
- Maryland Natural Resources Police
- Comptroller of Maryland
- Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
- United States Capitol Police
- United States Park Police
- All Federal Law Enforcement Partners
- Delaware State Police”
