The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is joining other metro-area law enforcement agencies in encrypting its scanner signals, a move that officially took effect on Dec. 30.
Mike Taplin, spokesman with the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office, said the decision to do so ultimately came down to “the type of information that gets aired out.”
Although Taplin said Jefferson County will remain “extremely transparent and cooperative” and will continue to post about incidents on its various social media accounts, critics say the change prohibits the public and the press from knowing about events in real time.
“Police radio silence makes it harder for news organizations to cover breaking news and to let the public know to avoid potentially hazardous areas when there’s been a shooting, a fire or some other incident,” Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, wrote in an April 2019 blog on the organization’s website.
Sharon Trilk, who runs the community website My Mountain Town, agreed, saying she’s disappointed that the Sheriff’s Office took the action unilaterally.
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