Over and ‘not’ out: NYS Legislature passes bill that gives press encrypted police radio access

Members of the state Legislature voted Thursday to approve the "Keep Police Radio Public Act," which will give credentialed members of the media access to encrypted police radio.

This comes after the NYPD completed encryption of its precincts, special operations, and several other frequencies this past year. While several citywide frequencies and transit radio remain open, encrypted radio has left many members of the media to guess whether particular calls were real or nonexistent. Sometimes, events are not known until the NYPD reports them to the press.

The NYPD has maintained that its nearly billion-dollar radio upgrade was necessary to improve radio technology and "keep bad guys from using radio transmissions against them." However, neither the NYPD nor the mayor could say how the pre