Public officials are speaking out after the Oakland Police Department said there will be no public access to live radio feeds.
State Senator Josh Becker of Menlo Park said he isn't pleased with the decision by OPD to encrypt its radio traffic, adding that access to those feeds is essential to keeping the department accountable.
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WATCH HERE"It’s just transparency," Becker said. "There’s transparency to the public, these are the people that monitor these communications."
Becker recently tried to pass legislation aimed and preventing police departments from limiting access to live radio feeds. The move came after several agencies began encrypting radio traffic following a state Department of Justice memo in 2020 directing agencies to protect personal information.
"The CHP…they don’t encrypt…other ways to protect people’s personally identifiable information," Becker said.
A spokesperson with the City of Oakland confirmed its IT department is working with OPD to encrypt existing radios.
The spokesperson noted that the city will not incur additional costs since the radios already have encryption software.
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Brian Hofer, executive director of Secure Justice, said he believes in secure communications for individuals and that the same rules shouldn't apply to local government.
"When it comes to the government, transparency is paramount. …open meetings," he said.
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