Dear Governor Hochul,
We the undersigned are writing to respectfully request you to veto bill A.3516/S.416, the “Keep Police Radio Public Act”. This bill would require law enforcement agencies that encrypt their radio transmissions to provide real-time access to emergency services organizations and “professional journalists”. It is imperative in emergency situations that law enforcement agencies maintain encrypted communication transmissions for vehicle to vehicle and officer to officer to maintain community safety. While transparency and accountability are vital principles, the approach that this bill takes to publicize encrypted law enforcement radio communications raises serious concerns about community safety.
We have met with local community leaders and members of law enforcement; they have expressed the need for certain communications to be kept private. There are many emergency situations where tactical decisions are discussed and made in response to crisis situations over police radio. Encryption of police radio has become increasingly common due to the need to protect real-time tactical decision-making. Mandating that this highly sensitive information is publicized not only poses a threat to the citizens involved, but to our law enforcement as well. This could endanger the lives of officers and the public at
large.
High risk events such as active shooters, barricaded subjects, and evolving pursuits require constant and rapid radio traffic between command, dispatch, and responding units. While the bill suggests a carve-out for “sensitive information”, in practice it is subjective and there is no clear directive as to who would make that decision. As a result, this bill would
unavoidably expose sensitive operation information and undermine officer and civilian safety.
Further, this bill requires public disclosure of these real-time communications to “professional journalists” as defined under §79-h of the Civil Rights Law. This is an extremely broad definition that freelancers, self-publishers, and operators of newly
created online “news outlets” can qualify within. There are no credentialing requirements, background checks, or security standards built into the statutory definition. While this functions well for shield-law purposes, it is wholly unsuited for determining eligibility to receive access to real-time police communications. Ensuring both public safety and transparency requires a balance, but one that cannot compromise officer safety or sensitive law enforcement operations. For these reasons, we respectfully request that you veto bill A.3516/S.416.
Albany, NY – Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon (D-119) is proud to announce Governor Kathy Hochul’s decision to veto Assembly Bill A.3516, titled the “Keep Police Radio Public Act”, legislation that would have mandated law enforcement agencies provide real-time access to encrypted radio transmissions to the media and “professional journalists”. While radio dispatch communications are and will remain publically available, on the ground in law enforcement, there are many emergency situations where tactical decisions are discussed and made in response to crisis situations over police radio frequencies that are encrypted. These encrypted communications, made directly between responding units and officers, often contain discussions of highly sensitive information and real-time tactical decision-making that are currently protected. However, the proposal’s mandated disclosure of these encrypted communications in real-time to “professional journalists” under the extremely broad definition of §79-h of the Civil Rights Law, would have not only posed a threat to the citizens involved and our law enforcement, but would have potentially granted bad actors access to these highly sensitive transmissions. “While transparency and accountability are vital pillars of law enforcement service, we cannot compromise the safety of the public or of our officers involved in crisis situations.
Mandating this information be made public would unavoidably expose sensitive operation information and undermine officer and civilian safety,” stated Buttenschon. High risk events such as active shooters, barricaded subjects, and evolving pursuits require constant and rapid radio traffic between command, dispatch, and responding units. Publicizing this information according to the statutory definitions and provisions of A.3516’s proposal, which contains no credentialing requirements, background checks, or security standards built into determining eligibility requirements for “professional journalists”, would potentially grant access to bad actors. These bad actors may then capitalize upon this information and use it to anticipate the tactical movements of law enforcement on-scene, directly endangering their lives and operational security. “After discussions with local leaders and law enforcement personnel, it was for these reasons I, alongside Assemblymembers Pheffer Amato and Santabarbara, authored a letter to the Governor on December 11th ahead of the bill’s potential signing urging the Governor to veto this legislation. I thank my colleagues for joining me in my opposition, and thank Governor Hochul for recognizing the vital need to veto this proposal.”
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