"Insistence on transparency in law enforcement has nothing to do with whether one likes or dislikes police officers. It comes down to trust, and this is essential for a free society and the effective, honest policing of our streets. This is why Gov. Kathy Hochul should sign the Keep Police Radios Public Act into law. The bill was sponsored by state Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) and in the Assembly by Karines Reyes (D-Bronx). It took two hard-fought years to get both houses of the legislature to approve this bill that grants credentialed members of the media and emergency volunteer first responders access to encrypted police radios."
"Police departments around the country are moving towards radio encryption to keep bad guys from using the radio traffic against them. There is adequate evidence that some criminals have used police scanners to commit crimes, and even anarchistic protestors have monitored police movements to riot and commit vandalism. There were also instances of protestors who used Chinese-made Baofeng radios to interfere with NYPD cops during George Floyd-related protests in New York City in 2020. Encryption prevents this interference."
"The sponsors of the Keep Police Radios Public Act realized, however, that the bad guys are not members of the credentialed media who are informing the public at emergency situations. They also realized that federal mandates require all emergency first responders to have interoperability to effectively support law enforcement during disasters and incidents. We saw this inadequate communication on 9/11, when 343 firefighters and 72 police officers were killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001."
Transparency in law enforcement builds trust that is essential for a free society and effective policing. The Keep Police Radios Public Act would grant credentialed media and emergency volunteer first responders access to encrypted police radio traffic. The bill was sponsored by state Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris and Assemblymember Karines Reyes and passed both houses after two years of effort. Police agencies are encrypting radios to prevent criminals and rioters from exploiting scanner traffic, including interference with Baofeng radios during 2020 protests. Federal mandates require interoperability among first responders, and past events like 9/11 revealed deadly communication failures. Police agencies also raise privacy concerns for victims and now provide officers with department phones.
Read at www.amny.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]