In the Public Interest
Recent State Requirements and Palo Alto Police Department’s Commitment to Public Information
Move to Encryption of Police Radio Transmissions Explained
By Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen
Recently, the Palo Alto Police Department encrypted its radio transmissions to comply with a mandate from the California Department of Justice that requires all California law enforcement agencies to protect personal identifying information. Given recent public and media discussions on this topic, I would like to take a moment to discuss this state requirement and how it does not change the Police Department’s commitment to transparency and sharing of public information.
The Palo Alto Police Department is not the first law enforcement agency in Santa Clara County to comply with this state mandate, which local media reports have led the public to believe. In fact, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, the San Jose Police Department, the Morgan Hill Police Department, and the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety have moved their radio communications to encrypted channels. The remaining law enforcement agencies in the County are continuing to use open and unencrypted channels in the short term and are all planning to migrate to encrypted channels by the end of the calendar year at the latest. At that time, every law enforcement agency in Santa Clara County will be using encryption.
The California Department of Justice mandate is designed to protect the privacy of the people with whom law enforcement officers may come into contact. Personal identifying information includes such things like names, driver license numbers, and social security numbers. This information, when broadcast on an open and unencrypted radio frequency, could be compromised and used for any purpose by anyone using a commercially-available radio scanner. Using an encrypted radio frequency to broadcast this information safeguards that information. If you would like to read the information bulletin we received from the Department of Justice describing these mandates, you can view it here.
The Palo Alto Police Department can always do more outreach as some media outlets have suggested. Prior to encrypting our radio transmissions, we posted a notice about the forthcoming change on the home page of our website at www.papd.org (the direct link to which is here), and also proactively sent a notification to all of our media partners describing the change and the reason for it. No matter what form of outreach completed, it would not have changed the Palo Alto Police Department’s need to comply with the Department of Justice’s requirements.
Some have questioned how this decision aligns with our longstanding commitment to transparency. The Department of Justice mandate, which is required of all law enforcement agencies, is narrowly focused on protecting the personal identifying information of those who come into contact with police officers. Should those mandates be changed in the future for some reason, the Department will absolutely comply with whatever the law requires. Our commitment to transparency and sharing public information continues. We continue to respond to press inquiries for public information; produce our police report log every business day; distribute news releases; post information on our website like crime statistics, monthly activity reports, our Policy Manual; and, manage many social media platforms to ensure the public is aware of police activities and ways to stay safe. I would encourage you to visit our Public Information Portal as a starting point to learn more about the public information we release on a regular basis. We’re also one of the only agencies our size in the state that has an Independent Police Auditor, and we’ve engaged with them for more than a decade. You can review all of their public reports dating back to 2006 here.
“We are committed to providing real-time accurate public information on major public safety incidents that occur in Palo Alto. In hindsight, we recognize we could have done more to communicate this operational change in advance.”
The Palo Alto Police Department has always placed a high value on transparency and continues to have a longstanding partnership with our media partners. This Department of Justice mandate will not change that. There are many ways that we continue to proactively distribute real-time emergency information, and other public information that the media may request. And we continue to respond to every media inquiry we receive once we have a chance to obtain accurate information. Our patrol Watch Commanders do their best to respond to respond to every media inquiry in a timely manner, while balancing their other job responsibilities. For major crime scenes, critical incidents, or breaking news events, we will designate a spokesperson for that specific event to address the media from the scene. Fortunately, these events in Palo Alto are few and far between.
Some have suggested that there were alternative ways to comply with this mandate such as using cell phones. No other agency in this county that has moved to encrypted channels employs any of these alternative methods. Maintaining a single communication option for public safety response is the most safe and efficient way for our personnel to operate. In addition, I assure you that those other methods are not operationally practical or safe for our personnel. One of my highest priorities is to ensure the safety of my officers, and the need for them to respond and pivot to new information at a moment’s notice is paramount for the safety of our community. That’s exactly what radio communication allows.
Our personnel, as they have every day since 1894, remain steadfast in their commitment to serve the Palo Alto community and protect its residents, businesses, and visitors. We look forward to continuing to serve you in 2021.
In Service,
Chief Jonsen
