SNOW HILL – The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office will soon be moving to encrypted radio communications.
Like a growing number of police departments nationwide, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office will be transitioning in January to encrypted radio communications. Sheriff Matt Crisafulli says the change is meant to keep law enforcement officers safe.
“I understand that this is not a popular decision, however; it is a necessity for the preventative safety of our law enforcement officers,” Crisafulli said. “As you know, this is a very demanding and stressful job, especially in today’s world with instant informational access at everyone’s reach. This includes those that may have nefarious intentions towards our brave men and women.”
Crisafulli shared a statement on social media Saturday announcing his agency’s plan to move toward encrypted communication. His announcement came after the Eastern Shore Undercover Facebook page, known for its monitoring of emergency radio channels, shared the news that Worcester County would soon be encrypting its communications.
“That unfortunately means that we will no longer be able to provide coverage to the citizens of Worcester County,” read a lengthy post on the page Saturday. “This is NOT my choice and does not make me happy at all, but the reality is there is nothing I can do about it.”
When contacted Monday, Crisafulli said the change was a preventative measure meant to keep law enforcement officers safe and came as the agency had taken additional steps, including the addition of body cameras, to provide further transparency for the public. He said the decision to encrypt came after consultation with subject matter experts.
“We spoke in depth about the pros and cons of encryption,” he said. “After this consultation with the subject matter experts, we also consulted with numerous deputies about encryption. They overwhelmingly are for this.”
He stressed that communications would be available to the public after-the-fact with a Marland Public Information Act request. Fire and ambulance calls will not be encrypted.
“We are trying to balance the safety of our personnel, while continuing to be as transparent as possible,” the sheriff said. “All of our communication will continue to be recorded and available to our residents, via the appropriate channels for release.”
Eastern Shore Undercover’s Earl Campbell, however, believes the change will have a huge impact on transparency. Campbell is a former law enforcement officer who started the page several years ago to provide the community with information.
“Encrypting the channels will in essence create an atmosphere where the public will no longer know what is happening, and in my opinion, create a major safety issue for the public and law enforcement,” Campbell said. “The argument that this is an ‘officer safety issue’ has been used many times; however I will argue that by encrypting channels, you are creating a community safety issue, as well as making it less safe for officers.”
Crisafulli acknowledged that citizens were making the argument that there hasn’t been any local law enforcement safety issue related to anyone monitoring a scanner.
“We are very fortunate that this has not occurred here as of current time,” Crisafulli said, adding that the change was mainly meant to be preventative. “I agree that most of our residents with scanners do not have nefarious intentions. It is those that may, that are my greatest concern for my men and women and their families. The stress that they are under, and the stress that their families are under, have been elevated over the last several years with attacks on our law enforcement officers.”
He added that further discussion with his staff had yielded information regarding crimes that did involve scanners, primarily burglaries, thefts and narcotics.
“It is always a possibility that danger could be elevated by real-time response to calls, traffic stops, warrant attempts, etc.,” he said. “The encryption takes away from a criminal being able to know our every step in real-time. I have to ensure that I am doing everything within my power to safeguard our brave law enforcement officers, as their job is already a dangerous one. We will keep our community informed and strive to improve our level of services, always.”
Campbell said that Eastern Shore Undercover made a point to delay posts.
“We run a very safe page and I have policies in place to make sure, incidents are not posted until it is safe to do so, with delay and never under any circumstances when it could be an officer safety issue,” he said. “I would encourage you to pick any random call, then compare the time of the call, to the time that it is posted. You will see that there is a significant delay in when the call is posted. Most times, it is 15-20 mins, sometimes longer with major incidents. As a former law enforcement officer, I am fully aware of officer safety concerns and I am one of the most pro-police individuals you will ever meet but at some point, we also have to weigh the safety of the public, in addition to law enforcement.”
According to Crisafulli, encryption will begin in January 2024. He said the county wouldn’t need to purchase new equipment, as the existing radios were being reprogrammed. He said he’d heard from members of the public the concern that encryption would keep the sheriff’s office from communicating efficiently with allied agencies. That, however, is not expected to be a problem because Worcester will be able to share encrypted channels and for large-scale events would utilize “currently available tactical channels.”
Crisafulli added that the move to encrypted communications was based on national best practice by law enforcement agencies.
“All local law enforcement in Worcester County is switching to encryption, all of Delaware is already encrypted, and again, most law enforcement agencies across the country are looking to make this transition, to help add a layer of safety for our law enforcement officers,” Crisafulli said. “My office will always work to improve in all areas of our service to you, and our Worcester County residents. My office will remain committed to transparency and accountability.”
Nevertheless, Campbell believes the move will expand the divide between law enforcement and the general public.
“When anyone tries to hide something, in the public eye, it appears that it is to conceal something and creates further distrust in the community,” he said. “We’ve worked over 3 years to build that trust and now, it is being taken away, and I just don’t think it is the right thing to do.”
