San Diego Police Radio Encryption Cuts Critical Information Line for Media and Public Oversight

Police Scanners -now defunct in San Diego 

Last major Southern California department transitions to fully encrypted communications, raising concerns about transparency and accountability

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Police Department implemented full encryption of its radio communications on June 2, 2025, becoming the last major law enforcement agency in Southern California to block public access to real-time police scanner traffic and effectively ending a decades-long tradition of transparency that journalists and community watchdog groups say is essential for police accountability.

The transition to encrypted radio channels means that news organizations, community activists, and residents who previously relied on police scanners to monitor law enforcement activities in real time now hear only silence when tuning in to what was once a vital source of public safety information.

"What this does, it inhibits transparency and accountability," said Yusef Miller of the North County Equity and Justice Coalition at a recent news conference. "We as the community need to have transparency with law enforcement — where things are happening in our community, where people are being stopped and pulled over."

State Mandate Drives Change

The encryption stems from a 2020 California Department of Justice mandate requiring law enforcement agencies to protect personally identifiable information obtained from the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) — including names, driver's license numbers, dates of birth, and criminal histories — that is sometimes broadcast over police radios.

The directive gave agencies two options: limit the transmission of database-obtained personal information on public channels or encrypt their radio traffic entirely. Most chose full encryption.

"In the past we were not encrypted, which meant that by using police scanners anyone in the public, the media, etc. could listen in on all of our radio communications," said San Diego Police Lt. Daniel Meyer. "And as you know when it comes to 911 calls and the information that's conveyed from our dispatch center to our officers, we're conveying sensitive information."

The San Diego Police Department invested approximately $51 million over 10 years to upgrade its radio system, replacing about 3,400 handheld radios and upgrading 1,050 mobile radios in its vehicle fleet to implement the encryption technology.

Media Organizations Sound Alarm

News organizations across San Diego County have expressed deep concern about the loss of scanner access, arguing it undermines their ability to inform the public and hold law enforcement accountable.

"We need to hear what's going on in real time so they know the questions to ask police. Otherwise, journalists are forced to just believe the sort of PR version of events that officers choose to put out," said Ginny LaRoe, advocacy director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit focused on open government and press rights.

The impact on journalism is already being felt. Marcus Boyd, an Imperial Beach resident who regularly video records police encounters as a form of accountability, said the encryption has severely hampered community oversight efforts. "Now all we have is silence," Boyd said.

Jennifer Seelig, director of news and programming at KCBS and board member at the Radio Television Digital News Association, testified before state legislators that scanner access is "critical for news organizations" because "we need to know what first responders are doing in real time."

Incomplete Alternatives

While the San Diego Police Department has established alternative information sources, including an online dispatch portal and a media services phone line, journalists and advocates say these tools are insufficient replacements for real-time scanner access.

The online portal at webapps.sandiego.gov/sdpdonline updates every five minutes and provides basic information about police calls, but lacks the immediacy and detail that scanner traffic previously offered. The system excludes sensitive incidents including domestic violence, child abuse, suicide, sex crimes, and stalking.

"We have a new website which is our 'dispatch portal' that media and the public can go to, to see what's going on within the city," Meyer acknowledged. "Now, we're not as satisfied as we would like to be in this changeover with what the portal provides. We're looking to make that a little more robust and a little more current."

Legislative Efforts Failed

Efforts to restore public access to police radio communications have faced significant obstacles at the state level. Senate Bill 1000, introduced by State Senator Josh Becker, would have required law enforcement agencies to find alternatives to full encryption while still protecting sensitive information.

The bill, known as the Public's Right to the Police Radio Communications Act, easily passed the California Senate by a 25-8 vote in May 2022 and would have given agencies until January 1, 2024, to implement policies allowing radio communications to be monitored while protecting personally identifiable information.

However, SB 1000 died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in August 2022, effectively killing the legislation despite support from media organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"I like to think we can keep the momentum going into next year," Becker said after the bill's failure, indicating plans to reintroduce similar legislation.

Regional Impact

San Diego was among the last agencies in the region to implement full encryption. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department began encrypting in 2022, while police departments in Chula Vista, Escondido, El Cajon, Coronado, La Mesa, and National City have all made the switch in recent years.

Some agencies, including the Escondido Police Department, initially worked with news organizations to provide encryption keys, but those efforts were abandoned after the 2020 state directive.

The California Highway Patrol operates under a hybrid system that uses encrypted channels for sensitive information while maintaining open channels for general radio traffic — a model that SB 1000 would have required other agencies to adopt.

Historical Context and Future Concerns

For 80 years, police scanner traffic had provided a critical transparency mechanism, allowing both media and the public to monitor law enforcement activities in real time. Darwin Fishman, a professor in the African-American Studies department at San Diego State University and former member of the city's community police review board, warned that without scanner access, community members and journalists will arrive late to police scenes "if at all."

The encryption trend has not generated widespread public outcry, which some observers attribute to many residents being unaware that scanner traffic was previously publicly available.

"The decision by a number of law enforcement agencies to fully encrypt communication greatly limits the ability of journalists to serve the public," said Seelig of KCBS.

As San Diego joins the ranks of agencies with fully encrypted communications, the debate over balancing public safety, privacy protection, and government transparency continues to evolve, with significant implications for police accountability and public oversight in one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas.

The California News Publishers Association has stated that "some law enforcement agencies have used this as a justification to encrypt all radio transmissions, cutting off necessary transparency," while law enforcement officials maintain that encryption is necessary to comply with state privacy requirements and protect sensitive operations.

The San Diego Police Department did not respond to requests for additional comment about future plans to enhance public information access.

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Sources

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The scramble to watch police after scanners go silent