Public police radio channels go silent in Oakland, Alameda County

"After weeks of technical hiccups, nearly every law enforcement agency across the East Bay has now silenced their police radios. Before sunrise Wednesday, all but one Alameda County agency pulled public access to communications between officers and dispatchers, completing a region-wide shift toward secrecy that has prompted alarm among police accountability and First Amendment advocates. And in a surprise move, the lone holdout the Berkeley Police Department may soon join them."

"Berkeley city spokesperson Matthai Chakko said that the Berkeley City Council, as early as Oct. 28, will be asked to encrypt Berkeley Police Department primary radio channels similar to every other jurisdiction in Alameda and Contra Costa County. The statement represents an about-face for the Berkeley Police Department, whose leaders told this news organization as recently as last week that they planned to go it alone and avoid the regional push toward encryption."

Technical glitches delayed a regional effort to encrypt police radio channels across Alameda and Contra Costa counties for weeks. Nearly every East Bay law enforcement agency has now silenced public access to officer-dispatch communications, with Contra Costa going silent last week and Alameda County completing the shift on Wednesday. Berkeley is the lone holdout but the Berkeley City Council will be asked as early as Oct. 28 to encrypt primary police radio channels similarly to other jurisdictions. The move reverses a 2021 City Council policy that kept primary channels unencrypted except in limited situations. Community accountability advocates expressed disappointment and warned of eroded trust.

Read at www.mercurynews.com