"No timeline exists for when police departments and sheriff's offices across Alameda and Contra Costa counties will end public access to their radio feeds, because they don't know why the system didn't work this week as planned, said David Swing, the head of the East Bay Regional Communications System Authority. The former Pleasanton police chief spoke during a board meeting Friday for the entity, adding that technicians planned to conduct tests in Martinez on a backup radio channel to try to root out the issue."
"The effort has garnered considerable pushback from police accountability advocates, First Amendment organizations, some local defense attorneys and even a Bay Area state senator. All of them have condemned the move as a blow to transparency and the public's ability to understand crime as it happens in their community, along with how police act when they respond to it."
A technical glitch prevented dozens of East Bay law enforcement agencies from encrypting radio communications as planned, leaving public radio feeds accessible while the cause remains unknown. No timeline exists for ending public access because technicians must first identify the inconsistent issue. Technicians planned tests on a backup radio channel in Martinez to diagnose the problem. The attempted encryption effort drew pushback from police accountability advocates, First Amendment organizations, some local defense attorneys and a Bay Area state senator, who describe the change as reducing transparency and hindering public understanding of crime and police responses during incidents and emergencies.
Read at The Mercury News
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