A proposed state law for preventing criminal use of scanner traffic might be trumped by higher-tech communications by some law enforcement agencies.
Under a proposal by state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, misuse of radio scanner transmissions for law enforcement or other emergency agencies could result in a criminal charge if a person posted messages so others could avoid law officers. The legislation is filed as House Bill 5194.
Area law enforcement officers are mixed on whether the legislation is needed because communication technology today has a way of bypassing “Scanner Land.”
Mattoon Police Chief Dave Griffith and Coles County Sheriff Darrell Cox said their patrol officers can receive messages from 911 telecommunicators through in-car computers or via cell phones, thereby locking out anybody listening to scanners to avoid the long arm of the law.
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“A lot of calls are not necessarily going out over the air on the radio for us,” Griffith said. “Years ago, it could be a problem when everything had to be transmitted over the radio and that ended up on the scanner. Back then it was not uncommon for burglars to have scanners in their cars or in their pockets.”
“Anything that is pretty sensitive we will use the MDTs [Mobile Data Terminals] in our cars. That way everything is not going out over ‘Scanner Land.’ Many times the only thing you’ll hear from our department is the officer has arrived on the scene,” Cox said.
Encryption of signals is another way of not telegraphing the punch of law enforcement, Cox added. He said scanners have been known to pick up cell phone frequencies, but many times those are scrambled and not a sure way of pinpointing the location of law officers at a given time.
Douglas County Sheriff Charlie McGrew said a limited budget for his department has not added over-the-computer communication for his patrol officers. So radio transmissions are a key element of communication for Douglas County deputies and that means the wrong people might be listening in.
“There are two elements out there listening to scanners. People doing it for lawful reasons and those for illegal ones. But how can you take away scanner traffic for people doing it lawfully, like the press or others? It could be a double-edged sword,” McGrew said of the proposed law.
He said one downstate sheriff told him that when he shut out most of the public on transmissions through higher frequencies there was a backlash.
“People listen to scanners for entertainment or to know what’s going on. He had people in his county saying they missed the scanner traffic,” McGrew said with a laugh.
But McGrew said it is not a laughing matter when Illinois officers arrest narcotics dealers and methamphetamine producers with scanners in their possession. The question is whether a law could realistically prevent it.
“Confidentiality is very important. And anything put out over the scanner is not confidential. To tell you the truth, the the horse is already out of the barn,” McGrew said.
Oakland Police Chief Jack Sanders has his officers use cell phones linked to a local phone carrier transmission tower. The department does not have in-car computers with wireless capabilities like other departments in the Coles County.
“One of our council members is looking into how we might get them. But we have a dead spot for receiving them from one carrier now. It’s about our geographic location,” Sanders said.
Sanders believes criminals are going to abuse the use of scanners no matter what any law says.
“If somebody is going to commit an armed robbery or something serious like that then they are going to ignore such a law,” Sanders said.
Charleston Police Chief Bryan Baker said he had not heard of the proposed legislation until now and wanted to learn more about it, adding he felt violations might be difficult to prove in some cases.
Staff Writer Rob Stroud contributed to this story as well as Mike Riopell of the JG/T-C Springfield Bureau.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
