Ellis County police radio silenced; authorities say they will remain transparent

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

On Monday, police radios across Ellis County went silent.

As part of a modernization of Ellis County’s public safety radio infrastructure, radio traffic will be encrypted for all public safety radio channels in Ellis County, including the following agencies: Victoria Police, Victoria Fire Department, Fort Hays State University Police, Ellis Police, Ellis Fire Department, Ellis County EMS, Ellis County Fire Department, Ellis County Sheriff, Hays Police and Hays Fire Department.

This means that police scanners and home scanner apps will no longer be able to receive radio traffic from these law enforcement agencies and emergency call centers.

The additional layer of encryption is part of a statewide effort to protect information sent over public safety radios. According to a press release from Ellis County Manager Darin Myer, it will make radio traffic compliant with Kansas Criminal Justice Information System and Federal Bureau of Investigation requirements.

Although the Kansas Highway Patrol does not currently use encryption, the agency plans to do so in the future.

“In addition to the Kansas Criminal Justice Information System, encryption also increases the security of our emergency responders and helps protect information about community members transmitted over the radio,” Myers said.

Myers said certain law enforcement radio traffic has previously been restricted due to requirements for unencrypted channels.

In addition, there are privacy concerns under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regarding the sharing of certain medical information over the air during medical emergencies, he said.

“When responding to an emergency, our primary focus is to ensure the safety of the scene and our personnel,” Myers said.

The ability to communicate over the radio exactly what to do and how to do it in the event of an incident allows for better communication with all personnel, he said.

Myers said encrypted traffic means criminals cannot eavesdrop on the personal activities of police and emergency responders, nor can they use the information to develop a counter-plan in the event of an emergency.

“We also know that we need information for the public to keep everyone informed of what is happening,” Myers said. “It’s difficult to balance the two because the faster and safer our personnel resolve an incident, the faster the public is unharmed.”

Max Kautsch, an attorney with the legal hotline of the Kansas Press Association and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, questioned the need to encrypt all traffic.

A 2016 report prepared in collaboration with the Federal Partnership of Interoperable Communications discussed how some law enforcement agencies encrypted SWAT traffic but did not encrypt everyday patrol traffic.

In many cases, emergency medical traffic is encrypted to protect patient privacy, but the report stresses the importance of emergency vehicles being able to communicate with medical facilities.

“The press release does not consider the negative impact of encryption on the public’s right to know,” Kautsch said. “Reasonable alternatives, such as delaying scanner transmission, could achieve the goals stated in the press release without completely denying the public access to a traditional means of obtaining information that is clearly in the public interest.”

Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler said he believes HPD is transparent and will remain so even if police radio traffic is encrypted.

“I think we are very transparent about the work we do,” Scheibler said. “We have regular meetings with (the Hays Post). We post information on the Hays Post. We record every conversation we have with the public. …

“I suspect that the vast majority of people don’t listen to the scanner.”

In addition, HPD expects to add body cameras next week. The agency has had cameras in its vehicles for some time. The Ellis Sheriff’s Department and correctional facilities have also been using body cameras for years.

Victoria Police Chief Cole Dinkel said the department will notify the public in major emergencies via social media or a press release.

Dinkel said his department is ready to begin publishing police activity reports to the Hays Post. Readers can already view Hays Police Department activity and arrests, Ellis County Sheriff’s activity, Ellis County Jail bookings, a monthly Ellis Police summary and FHSU police reports in the Hays Post under the arrests tab.

FHSU Police Chief Terry Pierce said he does not believe encrypting police radio traffic would affect police transparency or the ability to inform the public in emergencies.

The university also uses an alert system called Rave to notify students and staff about emergencies on campus.

The City of Ellis also has an alert system that residents can sign up for by contacting the City Clerk’s Office.

Ellis Police Chief Avery Smith said he believes his department is transparent and will remain so under the new radio system.

He said encryption will help increase the security of law enforcement, victims and those who report crimes.

“Several times over the last few years we’ve had active crime scenes and we’re still gathering intelligence to figure out where the threats are and if they’re armed,” Smith said. “People have been driving past active crime scenes. I think that will help us do our jobs more effectively.”

“In some cases, we have even driven to the crime scene. The suspects who committed the crimes are there and we can hear the radio traffic from their pockets. They know who is coming and how many of us are coming, who the reporting person is and what their name is. I think this will increase the safety of the reporting parties.”

He said the privacy provided by encryption would also protect victims of sexual crimes and make it easier for them to report these crimes.

Smith said the only alternative to over-the-air encryption was to use mobile phones to transmit private information, but these were technically far less reliable than radio devices.

A public access radio channel is used for public communication during severe weather events. This channel is used when trained storm observers report the weather as it moves through Ellis County.

That weather channel is currently used as a tactical channel called “TAC 5.” It will be renamed “Weather.” It will not be encrypted so the public can listen in on weather observations and reports during severe weather, Myers said in an email to the Hays Post.

Although the criminal information policy has been in place for years, the money to modernize the radio system was only recently released, according to Sheriff Scott Braun.

This project was submitted as a grant application through the Kansas Local Safety and Security Equipment Grant Program. In late 2023, Ellis County received $100,000 in federal COVID relief funding to fund the project.