Sunshine Week: Hennepin County Sheriff, it’s Time to Reverse Police Radio Encryption
By MN Crime Watch, March 22, 2020 — News and Commentary
Sunshine Week takes place in mid-March, and it’s a national, non-partisan effort to highlight the critical role of open government and freedom of information at the local, state, and federal levels. It’s an opportunity to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy.
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The Twin Cities Crime Watch network calls on Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson to reverse police radio encryption on police main dispatch channels for 25 cities and/or law enforcement agencies that went into effect last October. (NOTE: Minneapolis and St. Paul dispatches are not encrypted at this time, see list below).
Email or call Sheriff Hutchinson and tell him it’s time to reverse encryption for critical public safety and transparency: david.hutchinson@hennepin.us or 612–348–3744.
Police radio encryption by Sheriff Dave Hutchinson was a bad idea when he implemented it last fall. The move was also in complete opposition to his campaign promise that he would not encrypt police main dispatch channels.
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(Sheriff Dave Hutchinson vowed not to encrypt police mains prior to being elected. Photo credit @wwozzydo on Twitter)
NOT REVERSING POLICE RADIO ENCRYPTION AT THIS TIME IS NOW NEGLIGENT AND IRRESPONSIBLE
We are now under extraordinary circumstances due to the COVID-19 shutdowns and disruptions, which are causing chaos to people’s lives and concerns for safety and well-being.
On top of general safety worries, inmates are being released in Hennepin County, Ramsey County and other counties throughout the state. And law enforcement agencies are suspending arrests of many so-called “non-violent” criminals or suspects (more national reports here and here).
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(Images of news stories)
Our “leadership” would have you believe that people in jail “haven’t done anything wrong,” or that “they haven’t been convicted of anything,” they just can’t afford bail.
The fact is, as we post daily, many have numerous prior arrests and convictions. And many are menaces to society who have major impacts on people’s lives and society even though they are committing “non-violent” crimes like burglary, theft, identity theft, auto theft, credit card theft/fraud, other theft/fraud, trespassing and narcotics offenses.
WHY REVERSING ENCRYPTION MATTERS
Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson encrypted main police dispatch channels of the the following cities or law enforcement agencies in October: Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Champlin, Corcoran, Crystal, Dayton, Deephaven, Golden Valley, Hennepin County Sheriff/Deputies, Hopkins, Maple Grove, Medina, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, New Hope, Orono, Osseo, Plymouth, Robbinsdale, Rogers, Saint Anthony, South Lake, Three Rivers, Wayzata, and West Hennepin Public Safety.
The crime that happens in those cities, does not stay in those cities. The crimes and police incidents that start in those cities impinge upon, affect and directly impact people in other cities, like Minneapolis, and the public has a right to access this critical public safety information. Not to mention, the people who live in those cities deserve critical public safety information that can be gleaned from police radio dispatches.
Several times last week, the Twin Cities Crime Watch network, as well as other scanner incident groups/pages like Minneapolis Scanner, Anoka County Police Clips, and Minnesota Public Safety Monitoring Page have provided critical public safety information to the public. Much, if not most, of this information comes from volunteers who are monitoring police scanner feeds.
Most of the information being provided by Crime Watch and the other groups above isn’t available anywhere else. Our city and police administrations are not providing adequate updates, warnings or information, and local mainstream media doesn’t cover 99.99% of the incidents that happen.
The Crime Watch network posted about numerous critical incidents in the last week alone, some of which began in the encrypted cities listed above (and we posted after they were aired on Mpls dispatch because they entered the city). The incidents include:
— a Brooklyn Center police pursuit that ended up in Minneapolis where the suspect carjacked a vehicle and then fled into downtown Minneapolis
— an attempted home invasion of an occupied dwelling by a fleeing suspect
— a Brooklyn Center armed carjacking this morning and the vehicle was last spotted in Minneapolis
— a Robbinsdale police pursuit that went through Minneapolis Saturday
— and a robbery/assault spree earlier last week
NONE OF WHICH YOU HEARD ABOUT FROM POLICE OR LOCAL MEDIA.
The public deserves access to critical public safety information especially now. And law enforcement agencies also need to be held accountable through the transparency of open and unencrypted police main dispatch channels. Every excuse the sheriff’s office made for enacting encryption has been roundly and solidly debunked.
Email or call Sheriff Hutchinson and tell him it’s time to reverse encryption for critical public safety and transparency: david.hutchinson@hennepin.us or 612–348–3744.
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Please follow and support the scanner incident groups/pages we listed in this article, above, so you can stay informed. We also encourage donations to those that are set up to accept them as a show of appreciation for the enormous amount of time and resources it takes to provide the information. Minneapolis Scanner accepts Paypal donations to email address templedawg69@hotmail.com.
About Crime Watch: The Twin Cities/Minnesota Crime Watch network was started with one Facebook page back in 2010 as a direct result of too little information about crime and public safety being provided by city and law enforcement officials. Our network has now grown across social media platforms to include over 130,000 followers on ten Facebook pages as well as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Patreon.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.