Snafu keeps Oakland police radio traffic public as East Bay-wide shutdowns loom

"The glitch appears rooted in a broader, little-publicized push to silence police scanner traffic across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Until that technological snafu, dozens of agencies this week had timed their scanners to go dark to the public throughout the East Bay Regional Communications System Authority the board overseeing a switch that has been widely condemned by police accountability and open government advocates."

"No one has confirmed how long the delay will be, but if and when the dust settles, it seems only one East Bay agency the Berkeley Police Department will opt out of the effort, which appears to have cost millions of dollars in public funds. The prospect of dozens of agencies joining Oakland in hiding their radio traffic is deeply frustrating, said Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of San Francisco-based nonprofit Media Alliance and advocacy director of Oakland Privacy."

Oakland Police Department planned to encrypt police radio channels and end public access to live scanner feeds, but unexpected technical issues delayed the rollout. The glitch is linked to a broader effort across Alameda and Contra Costa counties to silence scanner traffic through the East Bay Regional Communications System Authority. Dozens of agencies timed scanners to go dark, with only the Berkeley Police Department appearing to opt out. The initiative appears to have cost millions in public funds. Critics, including advocacy and First Amendment figures, condemn the encryption as a loss of transparency and a blow to journalism. The authority is working with a vendor to fix the issue.

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