Chicago officials begin encrypting police scanners shutting public, media out

Collation of media organizations blast plan, saying public safety is threatened; New York City may follow 

Chicago media organizations and community leaders are blasting a plan to encrypt police radio scanners, saying doing so would be a threat to public safety. 

In a letter signed by three publications, five television station newsrooms, and WBEZ parent Chicago Public Media, the collation says City Hall’s plan to block live transmission of police scanners would not only prevent residents and reporters from hearing about what’s going on in the city, but also traffic information, weather emergencies and other news.

Led by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, city officials defend the move saying it protects first responders and to prevent criminals from monitoring scanner traffic. But media organizations and others say the move could actually put the public in more danger. Scanner traffic is broken into several police “zones”, consisting of one or two police districts. Since the beginning of the year, many of those zones became “encrypted” – meaning residents and newsrooms can’t tune in to hear what’s going on. The city hopes to completely encrypt the zones by the end of this month.

The letter points out several incidents that the public and the news media didn’t know in real-time due to scanner encryption including a shooting outside a courthouse with the suspects getting away on an expressway and a police-involved incident last week in West Pullman. The scanner traffic is made available on a half-hour delay, but a lot can change during this timeframe and could be easily manipulated by law enforcement. 

“You know, there are prime examples – whether it be Uvalde, Texas or Laquan McDonald,” said attorney Steve Mandell, who is representing the news organizations. “The narrative that first comes out is entirely different than the narrative that emerges upon further investigation.” He reached out to city officials last July about letting news organizations have special access to the encrypted channels, but they refused to meet with him – four months after making his request. 

“Our own goal is to sit down and have a good give-and-take. It’s very disheartening when nobody will even talk to you,” Mandell said.

Chicago officials point out other municipalities encrypt their police radios including San Francisco, Denver, Las Vegas, and Louisville, among others. As for other big cities, Los Angeles isn’t currently considering a plan but New York is, looking to upgrade their systems which would likely include encryption by 2024. Numerous Chicago suburbs also encrypt police scanners. For example, south suburban towns such as Evergreen Park, Riverdale, and Dolton have encrypted their signals for years. 

The encryption controversy is just the latest dustup between Mayor Lightfoot and news organizations, whom she has repeatedly clashed with during her first term in office, similar to the frosty relationship predecessor Rahm Emanuel had – though it hasn’t reached the depths of those with former President Donald Trump, who often referred to the press as “fake news”.  Lightfoot is up for re-election next year and may have a tough time convincing voters to send her back to City Hall for a second term.

So far, there are no plans for the media organizations to file legal action. 

Meanwhile, many of those who use the #ChicagoScanner hashtag on Twitter – and by that, I mean legitimate accounts and not those who use it to spread right-wing propaganda, also blasted the plan – but took the news media to task as well, saying this was expected for some time and the letter sent Monday night is too little, too late: 

The #ChicagoScanner hashtag and the accounts using the scanners were particularly useful during the unrest in the city days after George Floyd was killed, helping users avoid streets where rioting was taking place. The hashtag was also useful as a car crashed into an utility pole in my neighborhood nearly four years ago, resulting in a loss of power for area homes for a few hours. 

Moreover, the encryption would prevent those legitimate Twitter accounts from providing crucial information in real-time, creating a vacuum which could leave the hashtag open to bogus accounts tweeting misinformation on a platform where new owner Elon Musk doesn’t seem to mind if his previous disastrous plan to sell verified blue checks to anyone with eight dollars is any indication. Also, you wonder why the city’s news media – especially local outlets owned by out-of-town multi-billion dollar corporate parents – waited until December 12 to make public a letter outlining their concerns. It’s a really bad look for journalism in our city.

This encryption of police scanners is the latest in a city whose leaders are known for making short-sighted decisions. But it’s par for the course in Chicago. 

To read the letter in full, click here to go to T Dog Media’s Slideshare page.