(The Center Square) – Law enforcement agencies across the Walla Walla Valley have announced plans to encrypt their primary radio communications beginning Oct. 30, ending the public’s ability to understand and listen to live police radio traffic through scanners and smartphone applications.
The Walla Walla Emergency Services Communications Center has said the change is due to concerns about sensitive personal information being broadcast over public channels and suspects potentially using scanner traffic to monitor police movements.
Walla Walla Police Department Sgt. Logan Morris, the department’s public information officer, told The Center Square that most police calls contain personally identifiable information that officers have an obligation and duty to protect.
“Many times, I’ve been in someone’s living room, running their information and can hear my own voice from their home scanner,” Morris said.
Kevin Donovan, who operates the Walla Walla Scanner Info by Kevin Facebook page, said the change will make it harder for residents and news organizations to independently monitor breaking incidents.
“Allowing only their ‘official social media post’ on any official happening which we may or may not hear from them about most events, if we do at all,” Donovan told The Center Square.
Donovan said the loss of scanner access will most likely delay information reaching the public, especially when many agencies do not immediately issue updates to the public or the media.
Police cite privacy, officer safety
WESCOM said in a press release that open radio transmissions can expose sensitive information about victims, witnesses and juveniles, including Social Security numbers, medical histories, dates of birth and home addresses.
Walla Walla Police Chief Chris Buttice said in the announcement that the department must balance transparency with its responsibility to protect residents’ private information.
“Our commitment to community transparency remains a priority, but we must balance that with our legal and ethical obligation to protect the privacy of the people we serve,” Buttice said in the release.
“When a resident calls us during their worst moments, they deserve to know their private information isn’t being broadcast to the open internet.”
The announcement also cited operational security as a reason for encryption, particularly during active shooter incidents, domestic violence responses and tactical deployments.
Morris said he personally recalled many instances in which suspects could monitor police activity through scanners.
He cited a serial burglar whom Morris said repeatedly evaded police detection and apprehension because he would carry around a police scanner. Morris said officers even were forced to seize a scanner from the man at one point.
He also recalled barricaded-suspect situations in which people inside could hear officers discussing plans and managing resources in real time.
Encryption would prevent people without authorized access from listening to those communications as incidents unfold, police said.
Donovan argued that encrypting routine dispatch communications goes beyond protecting sensitive information and could limit the public’s ability to independently monitor police activity.
He said journalists have historically relied on scanners to identify breaking news scenes, while residents have used them to monitor emergencies and community groups have used them to follow police responses.
In a statement provided to The Center Square, Donovan argued that agencies could encrypt sensitive or tactical communications without blocking access to all routine dispatch traffic.
Walla Walla’s plan is part of a broader debate over how police departments can protect sensitive information while maintaining public access to information about law enforcement activity.
The Seattle Police Department has said its main dispatch channels would remain open while tactical communications and transmissions containing sensitive personal information are encrypted as part of a regional radio-system upgrade.
The city of Bothell has also announced plans to encrypt tactical communications while keeping primary police and fire dispatch channels open.
Those approaches differ from Walla Walla’s plan to encrypt primary radio communications.
In Tri-Cities, Washington, agencies will close and restrict a channel when there is a situation that could hamper an investigation.
“Why can’t they do that?,” Donovan said as an example.
Although the public will no longer be able to understand live transmissions through ordinary scanners, Morris said the department will continue recording and retaining radio traffic.
“All radio traffic will still be recorded and retained available for public disclosure,” Morris told The Center Square.
WESCOM said participating agencies will continue sharing updates through their public information officers and official social media channels.
When asked if Donovan would continue his Facebook page, he answered by saying “I guess I will just be a state patrol, fire and medic site. It is what it is.”