Police Radio Encryption | Anne Arundel County Government

The Land Mobile Radio (LMR) System Capital Project, which started almost a decade ago, now enables the Anne Arundel County Police Department to protect the dignity of victims and their families by keeping your personally identifiable information (PII) and other private and sensitive information secured. At times, police officers and communications dispatchers must share PII such as names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, and medical or mental health conditions and histories over the radio, which makes this information vulnerable. Protected Health Information (PHI) about medical conditions, sexual assaults, domestic abuse, and child exploitation could also be compromised. 

Encrypted radio transmissions prevent the identities and personal details of victims, witnesses, or persons providing information to the police department from being revealed. This also helps protect the community from the increasing prevalence of identity theft. According to the National Council on Identity Theft Protection, simple methods, such as traditional identity theft, and more complex ones like synthetic identity theft, are all increasing. Professionals in the field believe that there is a new victim every 22 seconds. Furthermore, according to The Identity Theft Research Center (ITRC) Annual Data Breach Report, there were a record number of data compromises in the U.S. in 2023 with at least 353 million individuals impacted. Identity theft cases continue to rise. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network took in over 5.39 million reports in 2023.

The following is an example of how information could become compromised without the use of encryption:

Officers respond with Fire/EMS personnel to the home of a family to help with a situation involving a teenage child behaving irrationally and intending to harm themselves.

With encryption, we will be protecting your sensitive, private information transmitted over the police radio system. This information may include: 

• Home address
• Child’s name
• Child’s condition
• Child’s date of birth
• Prior medical or mental health information
• Current medical or mental health information needed for EMS personnel.

In addition to securing sensitive personally identifiable information not intended for the public, the decision to encrypt police radio transmissions also stems from a commitment to protecting the integrity of law enforcement operations and ensuring the safety of officers and the public. 

Encryption technology will secure the communication channels used by our officers and dispatchers, preventing unauthorized access and minimizing the risk of sensitive information being released such as police movements, operations and specific investigative details. Encryption allows officers to respond to calls for service safely, efficiently, effectively and to communicate operational tactics without fear of suspects intercepting sensitive information, thus allowing us to better serve the public by bringing safe closure to critical incidents.

Additionally, the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy requires that criminal justice agencies encrypt criminal justice information, including personal data. This requirement applies to information and data being transmitted via two way radios, among the other forms of storage and transmission.