LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln officials are wondering whether to restrict public access to police radio dispatches.
Public safety officials are seeking input internally, from media outlets and others over access to the police department’s primary channels.
Dispatchers on police radio channels relay information to officers on everything from minor crashes to shootings. News outlets often depend on those channels to track crimes and accidents in the city.
Public Safety Director Tom Casady says the city’s switch to a new digital radio system by early 2018 gives the police department the option to encrypt its radio channels. He says the potential for encryption has officials weighing privacy, officer safety and criminal apprehension concerns while considering the merits of police transparency.