Public can no longer listen to police broadcasts

MOSES LAKE — MACC Dispatch is now encrypting all law enforcement broadcast frequencies in Grant County.

The encryption of all law enforcement broadcast frequencies was implemented on April 18, with the public still able to listen to the broadcasts of fire and emergency services around the county, according to MACC Director Jackie Jones. The move comes after MACC previously began providing encrypted frequencies for law enforcement agencies during standoffs, tactical responses and high-speed pursuits. Jones said the decision to begin the encryption boils down to officer safety and addressing the problem of criminals listening in on police broadcasts.

“Keeping our units safe is priority one. Our goal, of course, is when there is bad guy out there to catch them and sometimes the bad guys try to use every tool they have available to them to not get caught,” Jones explained.

The discussion regarding the encryption dates back a couple of years, with its implementation delayed due to MACC needing to address their interaction with the Washington State Patrol, which uses a separate dispatch center in Wenatchee, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Jones said.

MACC’s LAW Technical Advisory Committee, which is one of three standing committees formed under MACC’s bylaws, weighed in on the issue and made the decision to move forward with the encryption in a meeting in June of 2015, when the patrol acquired the necessary equipment to be on MACC’s radio system. Jones said the public can still go to MACC’s website and access public disclosure forms to request recordings of law enforcement related calls that have been placed into the dispatch center.

“Anyone can go on there and request a recording,” Jones explained. “It’s a really easy process and we try to get those out as quickly as we can once we receive them.”

Jones said MACC Dispatch is not the first dispatch center in the state to make the move to encrypt law enforcement broadcasts.

“The goal really is for officer safety, it is not to block citizens. Our goal is not to block, that word is so strong. Our goal is really the safety of our units that are out there,” she said. “We want to provide the best service for our citizens and for our law enforcement units. It’s getting more and more dangerous out there. So the goal isn’t to block people, that was never the reason behind it.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.