D.C. reporters fight to access police radio channels

Members of the local Washington, D.C., news media say they are pushing back against the city police department's new policy to encrypt radio communications, which prevents them from learning about breaking news as it unfolds.

On Wednesday, city officials met with members of the media, including news directors from local television and radio stations, the Associated Press and The Washington Post to discuss the encryption policy, which took effect Sept. 15.

Under the new policy, the media will not be able to monitor police and dispatch chatter on radios, said police communications director Gwendolyn Crump. The media organizations were instead encouraged to sign up for a program wherein they are paged when "serious crimes" occur, she added.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier attributed the new policy to technology advancements. According to WAMU-FM, she has said the development of mobile phone applications allow criminals to easily listen to police communication, thus putting officers at risk.

Lanier, Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe and members of Mayor Vincent Gray's staff were among those on hand Wednesday to hear the concerns.

"Members of the media made it clear to the administration that we feel this is a public safety issue," said Mitchell Miller, the assistant news and program director for WTOP who attended the meeting. "When a radio station like WTOP is able to put over the air in real time what is happening on major downtown streets in the nation's capital, it benefits not only the people who are listening to our radio station, but arguably law enforcement as it tries to take care of the situation."

Miller also pointed out that officers have always had the ability to encrypt certain channels to shield sensitive communication.

The two sides are planning to meet again in two weeks. In the meantime, Miller said the news media will meet to discuss ideas that could lead to an agreement with the city.

Tom Sherwood of NBC4 said the media's complaints are for the benefit of the public, not only journalists. "It's not just accommodating business, but community leaders like to listen to what is going on in their neighborhoods, senior citizens like to listen to what's going on in their neighborhoods. It's about public access," Sherwood said.

According to Lon Walls, spokesman for the D.C. Fire & EMS Department, the fire department is not currently encrypting its communication due to the less sensitive nature of its work. But "that could easily change," he said. "The security issue for the (Metropolitan Police Department) is much greater in terms of the whereabouts of the criminals and the bad guys."

The news organizations would have appreciated the opportunity to have input before the decision to encrypt radio communication was made, Miller said. He used the example of a major Metro problem, or closed street as examples of the kind of up-to-the-minute information useful to responsible journalists.

"We never take information we get from a scanner and immediately throw it on the air," he said. "It's more of a guide to help us know what types of things we're going to need to follow up to report."