Police radio encryption coming to Minneapolis
By Crime Watch MN, March 27, 2024
Crime Watch has been reliably informed that police radio encryption is coming to Minneapolis “soon.”
We don’t have specifics on the date encryption will occur, but we speculate it could be some time this year.
As you know, much of what Crime Watch posts across our social media pages are summaries of real-time police dispatches that have included violent robbery crime sprees in progress, auto thefts, bank robberies, assaults, sexual assaults, major traffic incidents, reckless drivers and much more. The purpose of these posts is to let you know what’s happening ***right now*** to keep you safe and aware. Most of the real-time incidents that Crime Watch posts, you will never hear about anywhere else.
Make no mistake: Full police radio encryption with no reasonable accommodation for public access is done for no other reason than to limit and conceal crime information from the public, and it is an attempt to silence public safety watchdogs like Crime Watch.
Ironically, we learn this information just days after “Sunshine Week” ended, which is a yearly national transparency project started in the mid-2000s to highlight the importance of open government and freedom of information.
Crime Watch has often addressed encryption as metro area police comms and activity have fallen into secrecy over the last few years.
The excuse for encryption is, and will be in Minneapolis’s case, officer safety.
We absolutely understand that law enforcement safety is a real concern, and it should be. However, there are very workable solutions to preserve transparency and accommodate public access to radio communications that can protect officer safety as well as address privacy concerns that get raised:
— The Minneapolis Police Department already has access to and utilizes encrypted channels for various operations and sensitive events.
— Radio traffic can also be delayed to the public, allowing time to pass for events that may turn critical before being broadcast over public access channels.
— Most squads are also equipped with onboard computers where private information can be sent like garage or building entry codes, or other information deemed too sensitive to broadcast.
All of these options are already available. Defaulting to complete encryption is purely for secrecy and non-transparency purposes.
Now more than ever, as our police force dwindles and effective prosecution and sentencing lacks, the public needs real and timely information about public safety incidents and crime sprees occurring. It’s critical.
Encryption is also the opposite of what MPD should be doing as this city’s police force continues to operate under scrutiny and is expected to be reaching higher levels of positive public relations and transparency.
Also, rest assured, Crime Watch will continue to do what we do even if/when encryption is implemented in Minneapolis. We’ve been reporting on crime, criminals, and the criminal justice system since 2010, long before we started posting real-time police radio traffic, and we’ll continue to do so.
In fact, if/when encryption happens, it will only further fuel our drive and give us more time to dig even deeper to continue exposing Minnesota’s corrupt and failed criminal justice system, MN Courts, and the failed and failing policies of this city/county/state, elected representatives, and prosecutors when it comes to keeping the public safe.
Also note, local MN media will likely put up little resistance to Minneapolis police radio encryption (as was the case when Hennepin County went encrypted under former Sheriff Dave Hutchinson), because they don’t want to report on crime (it’s bad for their ad revenue), and they absolutely hate that Crime Watch incessantly calls them out for how little — and how incorrectly — they report on crime. MN media will be able to continue their complacency and complicity in covering up crime with one less avenue of public accountability.
When we get more information about when encryption may be implemented in Minneapolis, you’ll be the first to know. We will vocalize strong resistance, and we will need your voices, too.
###
Crime Watch exists because officials, police administrations, and mainstream Minnesota media refuse to give you adequate public safety and crime information that you need and deserve. Crime Watch is a volunteer effort launched in 2010 that provides original content reporting and information that you won’t get elsewhere.
This volunteer work is sustained through the support of our followers. Thank you to all who place value on our content and output across social media. Become a Patron or Donate another way: Crime Watch Mpls/Twin Cities | Linktree. You can also now support Crime Watch with a voluntary subscription on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrimeWatchMpls/creator-subscriptions/subscribe.
Our content is always free from paywalls. Thank you for supporting our independent research and reporting.
