The New York police department (NYPD) is facing serious backlash after announcing additional details about its plan to encrypt its radio communications system, which experts warn will limit transparency and accountability.
NYPD radio signals have been publicly accessible since 1932, allowing journalists and civilians to listen to police communications, Gothamist reported. The NYPD will now be encrypting its radio channels for the first time ever. Police radio encryption is already underway in several US cities, including Chicago and Denver.
Since starting in July, 10 precincts have already “gone dark”, or fully encrypted their radio systems. The entire “upgrade” to a new, encrypted radio system will be completed by December 2024 and cost an estimated $400m, a hefty price tag as several city agencies have been forced to swallow major budget cuts.
Critics of encryption say that the public radio channels are necessary for police accountability, press freedom and public safety.
Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (Stop), a New York-based civil rights organization, called planned encryption a “disturbing attack on transparency and public oversight of the police”.
“Radio monitoring is one of the few ways that we can get an unfiltered look at how the NYPD is policing,” Cahn said.
Several police-involved killings have been uncovered by the press after listening to police radios, Cahn said. Video of an NYPD officer killing Eric Garner in 2014 was obtained due to a call on the police radio, Gothamist reported. The police killings of Amadou Diallo in 1999 and Sean Bell in 2006 were also uncovered due to police radio communications.
“Without public radio, we will simply be at the mercy of police to tell us when they killed someone. There’ll be no one else who knows,” Cahn said.
Press freedom advocates have also argued that encrypting police radios will prevent journalists from accurately reporting or covering police misconduct, ultimately allowing the NYPD to decide what should be considered news.
Todd Maisel, founder of New York Media Consortium, a group of eight media organizations against radio encryption, says: “Having the NYPD controlling the narrative is the worst possible scenario.
“They’re not going to tell you stories about anything that didn’t go well,” he added.
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