“10-4” is the radio code for “message received,” but fewer and fewer hobbyists, reporters, or citizens of any stripe will receive any messages over public safety radio waves, as police and fire departments increasingly stop transmitting.
The age of the police scanner is slowly coming to a close. Police and other public safety departments are, one by one, moving their communications to encrypted channels.
Who actually listens to a police scanner? Well, not that many people. But for the few thousands who do, it’s sometimes an all-consuming hobby — or even a job.
Crime reporters these days have plenty of new sources of information, especially in places where departments tweet out all major developments in real time. Yet, some old-school ones still walk around with a handful of bulky scanners strapped to their belts, with antennae sticking in all directions. Talk to one of these salty old reporters these days, and you’ll hear laments about the move to encryption.
Police in Palo Alto, California, on Jan. 5 moved to encrypted radio without warning. Neighboring police forces in Menlo Park, Atherton, and Mountain View all say they’ll do the same. California is leading the way, but plenty of other departments all over the country are following the trend.
Hobbyists are suffering, too.
These days you don’t need a physical scanner, of course. Free smartphone apps allow you to listen in on police and their dispatchers all over the country. Get on the internet, and you’ll find dozens of people passing the time on message boards chatting about the crime, accidents, and fires they heard about on the scanner apps.
So, why ruin everyone’s fun? One man’s “transparency” is another man’s vulnerability. Just the other night, I overheard, via an iPhone app, local police explain exactly how they were staking out a burglar in my neighborhood. If the burglar’s friend were listening, he could have texted him on how to get out undetected or how long to stay put.
Not likely for your petty criminal, but police say that organized crime or terrorists can gain a tactical advantage by tracking police movements and reactions over the scanner.
And, as always, the unintended consequences of regulations play a role here. California privacy laws now forbid police departments from broadcasting personal information such as license plate numbers and addresses. So, just encrypt everything!
As the police say, 10-3.
