The Brief
- Most East Bay police agencies set to encrypt police radios Wednesday
- Departments say they are abiding by state privacy directive
- Critics says move hampers transparency
OAKLAND, Calif. – By early Wednesday morning, Oakland police radios – as well as most law enforcement agencies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties – will go silent. That means an information blackout for live breaking news, from barricaded suspects, shootings and other active crime scenes.
Agencies point to state privacy directive
What they’re saying:
Oakland police and other departments say the change is necessary to protect private information – and maintain officer safety – to abide by a state Department of Justice bulletin directing law enforcement to protect sensitive data.
“It’s disappointing, because the reality is that the privacy issues that were raised by the California Department of Justice could have been solved in all kinds of ways. Alternative radio channels, some encrypted, some not, using cell phones for personal information. It was not necessary to do basically a complete wipeout on the public radio system,” said Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of Media Alliance, which had fought against encryption.…