The Tompkins County Department of Emergency Response (DoER), which oversees law enforcement and first responder radio communications across the county, has begun reprogramming its system. When asked if the radio system for Tompkins County will no longer be accessible to the public, Sheriff Derek Osborne confirmed, “DOER manages the radios county wide. But yes, they are in the process of reprogramming all of them. Not sure of the status with each agency.”
An individual familiar with the system, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the change aligns with a federal standard calling for encrypted communications to protect law enforcement operations. According to the source, the encryption is intended to reduce public access at crime scenes and prevent social media groups from broadcasting police activity.
“They want ALL law enforcement comms encrypted. Partly to decrease “looky‑loos” at crime scenes and also so that the Facebook and other social media groups can’t hear where PD might be…”
In reference to the Facebook monitoring groups, the source added, “They’re a big part of the reason for the change.”
This ongoing change has been met with consternation by members of the local scanner monitoring community, citing “Lack of knowledge of on going emergencies and a lack of government transparency of actual crime in TC [Tompkins County.]”
Another called the change “So transparent it is invisible.”
Listeners to the local scanner feeds have recently reported “garbled” transmissions. The Ithaca Police Department feed appears to still be unencrypted. While reprogramming is underway, it is not known which agencies are already fully encrypted or the timeline for completion.
The federal standard most likely referenced is the Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program (P25 CAP), overseen by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. P25 sets technical guidelines for digital public safety radio systems and recommends the use of AES-256 encryption to secure communications while maintaining interoperability between agencies. The program does not mandate encryption for every agency, but it encourages adoption to protect officer safety and sensitive operational information.