CA Senate passes bill that would restore public access to encrypted police radio traffic

The California State Senate passed a new bill that would require police agencies to restore public access to radio communications.

In late 2018, valley law enforcement agencies encrypted their radio signals, blocking the public from hearing real-time updates on crimes, crashes and other matters of safety.

"We believe that there's a critical need for both the public and the press to be able to listen to certain information that comes across police airwaves," said Lt. William Hutchinson with Palm Springs Police Department.

Hutchinson said PSPD is committed to balancing the public's right to transparency with the need to encrypt some private police communications. He said the signals were initially encrypted to comply with privacy laws after a mandate from the Department of Justice.

"Driver's licenses, vehicle information, local criminal history, things of that nature," Hutchinson said.

State Senator Josh Becker just got Senate Bill 1000 to pass the California Senate, giving law enforcement agencies until January 1, 2024, to find ways to protect that confidential information while restoring public access to radio traffic.

"Law enforcement can in fact protect that kind of personally identifiable information without putting the public in the dark," Becker said on the Senate floor.

Officer Ben Guitron with Indio Police said his department supports the bill. "We obviously are going to comply with the state law as it's read in the bill," he said.

At PSPD, Hutchinson said the bill could mean operational changes since their dispatch team is smaller than most.

"We're looking at a very busy dispatch center with only a few dispatchers who have to do everything," Hutchinson said. "Some of those challenges are that we can't necessarily switch channels in order to get that privacy information that the officers need at a moment's notice and on the fly."

News Channel 3 reached out to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for a response to this story. Officials there are looking into the new bill, but could not immediately comment.

Desert Hot Springs police did not respond to our request.

For SB 1000 to be signed into law, it still needs to be approved by the state assembly before heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom.