• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Subscribe
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Leadership
    • Are performance evaluations worth the effort?
      Leaders — the good, the bad and the horrible
      How not to fail as an outside chief
      Setting ethical expectations early in an officer’s career
      Go that extra mile with a smile
  • Topics
    • Leadership
      • Are performance evaluations worth the effort?
        Leaders — the good, the bad and the horrible
        How not to fail as an outside chief
        Setting ethical expectations early in an officer’s career
        Go that extra mile with a smile
    • Editor’s Picks
      • Off duty, but never off guard
        The tyranny of memories
        Meeting training needs on a limited budget
        Empowering through experience
        Getting ahead of the story
    • On the Job
      • Police chief: Officers likely prevented further violence in Minnesota...
        Policing and fatherhood
        2025 Top Cops
        What’s with all the gear?
        Reckless elegance
    • Labor
      • Dallas Police Department drops college requirement for police...
        Small Texas town left without a police force after firing its last...
        Port Authority Police Department welcomes 71 new officers
        The P.D. that wouldn’t go away
        Critical incidents and waiting woosah
    • Tech
      • How local police departments can combat cybercrime
        Your website is your front desk
        Telegram investigations
        Florida sheriff’s office deploys cutting-edge forensic tool to...
        A new chapter for Utah law enforcement
    • Training
      • Blind spots
        LPVOs are the next evolution of the patrol rifle
        Training vs. practice: Improve or maintain?
        Off duty, but never off guard
        Meeting training needs on a limited budget
    • Policy
      • Cartel intelligence operations streamline cross-border drug smuggling
        Michigan Supreme Court: Marijuana odor alone no longer justifies...
        Milwaukee P.D. and schools clash over SROs
        Seattle Police Department launches new plan to curb violent crime
        Buffer-zone law blocked in Louisiana
    • Health/Wellness
      • “Hold my beer”
        When empathy backfires
        Navigating retirement
        Keeping work at work and home at home
        Avoiding the road to burnout
    • Community
      • Police warn of growing “jugging” crime trend as attacks spread...
        Code enforcement officers: The community’s frontline property...
        San Diego Honors Fallen Officer Austin Machitar with Park Renaming
        Battle of the Badges baseball game to support injured Missouri officer
        Temple University Police celebrate 7-year-old’s support with...
    • Offbeat
      • Not eggzactly a perfect heist
        Pizza … with a side of alligator?
        Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
        Only in California?
        Durango, Colorado, police hop into action after unusual 9-1-1 call
    • We Remember
      • National Police Week 2025
        Honoring Fallen Heroes
        What’s with the white chairs?
        The pain and sorrow of loss
        A cop and his car
    • HOT Mail
      • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • On the Job
    • Police chief: Officers likely prevented further violence in Minnesota...
      Policing and fatherhood
      2025 Top Cops
      What’s with all the gear?
      Reckless elegance
  • Labor
    • Dallas Police Department drops college requirement for police...
      Small Texas town left without a police force after firing its last...
      Port Authority Police Department welcomes 71 new officers
      The P.D. that wouldn’t go away
      Critical incidents and waiting woosah
  • Tech
    • How local police departments can combat cybercrime
      Your website is your front desk
      Telegram investigations
      Florida sheriff’s office deploys cutting-edge forensic tool to...
      A new chapter for Utah law enforcement
  • Training
    • Blind spots
      LPVOs are the next evolution of the patrol rifle
      Training vs. practice: Improve or maintain?
      Off duty, but never off guard
      Meeting training needs on a limited budget
  • Policy
    • Cartel intelligence operations streamline cross-border drug smuggling
      Michigan Supreme Court: Marijuana odor alone no longer justifies...
      Milwaukee P.D. and schools clash over SROs
      Seattle Police Department launches new plan to curb violent crime
      Buffer-zone law blocked in Louisiana
  • Health/Wellness
    • “Hold my beer”
      When empathy backfires
      Navigating retirement
      Keeping work at work and home at home
      Avoiding the road to burnout
  • Community
    • Police warn of growing “jugging” crime trend as attacks spread...
      Code enforcement officers: The community’s frontline property...
      San Diego Honors Fallen Officer Austin Machitar with Park Renaming
      Battle of the Badges baseball game to support injured Missouri officer
      Temple University Police celebrate 7-year-old’s support with...
  • Offbeat
    • Not eggzactly a perfect heist
      Pizza … with a side of alligator?
      Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
      Only in California?
      Durango, Colorado, police hop into action after unusual 9-1-1 call
  • We Remember
    • National Police Week 2025
      Honoring Fallen Heroes
      What’s with the white chairs?
      The pain and sorrow of loss
      A cop and his car
  • HOT Mail
    • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
Search

Tech

Chicago police to encrypt all radio transmissions by the end of the year to protect officers

APB Team Published October 5, 2022 @ 6:00 am PDT

Dreamstime.com/Lane Erickson

The Chicago Police Department will encrypt all of its radio transmissions by the end of the year to protect officers — a move that is drawing criticism for its impact on transparency.

Superintendent David Brown said the main reason for the encryption is to protect CPD officers, noting the increase in officer shootings over the past year.

“There’s no secrecy or lack of transparency. It’s just related to officer safety. We don’t want any nefarious (radio traffic) to lead to officers being injured or hurt,” Brown said. “Because our job is not just difficult, it’s very dangerous.”

According to the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, police radio transmissions will still be available to the public on the online audio platform Broadcastify, only with a 30-minute delay.

The transmissions are free to the public and do not cost the city.

A spokesman with the company said they have been working with the city for a year.

Officials added that the Broadcastify transmissions are direct audio feeds from the OEMC. Dispatchers also have the ability to pause the transmissions when personally identifiable information is discussed.

However, critics say the change limits the real-time information journalists and citizens have traditionally been able to access.

Adam Scott Wandt, an assistant professor and vice chair for technology at the Department of Public Management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, expressed concern about the policy.
“Then there’s a whole other class, and that’s the class of reporters in the media, and I am a firm believer in government transparency and accountability,” Wandt said. “And it certainly worries me, significantly worries me. If the police lock the media out of live radio broadcasts, it, in my opinion, certainly reduces the level of accountability that police departments will face.”

City officials claimed the encryption is intended to prevent harmful “rogue radio” calls. They argued that these calls put officers in danger by adding comments and other chatter to police traffic.
Chicago police radio communication has long been publicly available through programmed scanners or online applications.

There is even a large community of social media users who post updates of information gathered from scanners regarding shootings, protests, weather and traffic updates to platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

However, starting in 2017, the CPD began to shift from analog-encrypted channels to digitally-encrypted channels and steadily began to secure the channels from the public.

Chicago police communication is split into several radio zones. Over the past year, the majority of south side Chicago has become encrypted.

The OEMC cited incidents of “disruptive communication” — such as when fake emergencies were called in using audio recordings from past incidents — as putting officers in danger.

Wandt also noted that police radio has been used to avoid DUI checkpoints and evade police after committing a crime.

The city plans to phase in the encryption to cover all radio zones by the end of 2022.

Richard Guidice, executive director of OEMC, said the office receives around 7,300 to 13,000 calls in a day, and encryption will protect not only officers but victims as well. The personal identification of victims, suspects, witnesses and juveniles will thus be kept private.
Chicago Fire Department radio channels will remain unencrypted, in addition to police channels that are intended to communicate with other public agencies.

Despite his concern, Wandt understands the reason for the change.

“If you are a victim of a crime, would you want your name being broadcasted over the radio — hundreds, if not thousands of people listening and recording it, streaming it?” he asked. “And at the same time, if you were a police officer involved in a tactical operation, could it put your safety in danger to broadcast on an unencrypted channel? The answer is ‘yes.’”

Other agencies in major cities such as Denver, San Francisco, San Jose and Louisville have also fully encrypted their digital radio channels.

The move has spurred legislation attempts (in Colorado, for instance) to allow journalists access to encrypted transmissions.

So far, news media does not have access to police communications in these cities.

“I don’t know that there’s been a lot of cases where journalists have misused their access to police radio transmissions,” said Jeff Roberts with the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. “I think we are losing something by not having news media access to scanner traffic. We’re losing the public’s ability to know more about crime in their cities and to know about how law enforcement responds to crime in the cities.”

Categories: Tech Tags: Chicago Police Department, David Brown, accountability, public safety, dispatch, radio transmissions, transparency, Officer of Emergency Management and Communications, police radio, scanner

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • “Hold my beer”
  • NLEOMF’s 2025 Mid-Year Law Enforcement Fatalities Report reveals law enforcement deaths have decreased by more than 50% over last year
  • Are performance evaluations worth the effort?
  • Blind spots
  • Police warn of growing “jugging” crime trend as attacks spread across nation
  • Code enforcement officers: The community’s frontline property regulators
  • When empathy backfires
  • 2025 Mid-Year Law Enforcement Officers Fatality Report
  • National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Announces May 2025 Officer of the Month
  • Dallas Police Department drops college requirement for police recruits in effort to boost hiring

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

Off duty, but never off guard

Off duty, but never off guard

May 05, 2025

The tyranny of memories

The tyranny of memories

May 04, 2025

Meeting training needs on a limited budget

Meeting training needs on a limited budget

May 02, 2025

Empowering through experience

Empowering through experience

April 18, 2025

Policies | Consent Preferences | Copyright © 2025 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.