Harford County law enforcement implements encrypted radio scanner transmissions

HARFORD Co. --- Harford County Sheriff's Office has joined the growing list of law enforcement agencies who are now encrypting their radio transmissions.

This means certain information will not be transmitted over the police scanner.

It all comes less than a week after the tragic shooting at Joppatowne High School a day before students are set to return to school.

Why switch now?

According to the Harford County Sheriff's Office, encryption is required to comply with the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy. The policy mandates that all Criminal Justice Information (CJI)—including biometric data, identity history data, biographic data information, property data records, and case/incident history—must be protected with end-to-end encryption, such as over radio airwaves.

"With Criminal Justice Information Center or systems (CJIS) they forbid us from basically releasing private information out to the public without a reason including that is, juvenile data and then personal data for so on and so forth," explained Major Eric Gonzalez with the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

With the newly adopted encrypted channels, deputies said they can safeguard personal information more effectively.

It's "not as simple as you think."

"Even though it's easy for people to think that just switch to an encrypted channel when that happens," said Gonzalez. "Well, that's not as simple as you think."

Critical incidents, such as Friday's shooting at Joppatowne High School, can happen fast, leaving little time for law enforcement to switch radio channels.

"When the incident at Joppetowne High School happened, and then we made this switch a few days later, it [the switch] took months of preparation because we have to work with a lot of other agents around the state of Maryland to be able to have operability with their radios as well," said Gonzalez.

The switch to encrypted communications allows law enforcement to keep personal information like names, social security numbers, and juvenile matters private, meaning it won't be transmitted over the police scanner.

The sheriff's office explained that when information regarding an emergency is prematurely released on social media it can jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.

"If the bad guy is also getting that information, that can create an issue for us as far as how we can move to keep us safe and the citizens out there," said Gonzalez.

The department states the switch wasn't a decision that was made lightly but explained it's a move to keep deputies and their community safe.

"We are not hiding anything," said Gonzalez. "We are an open book. It's just that for the privacy concerns and for critical responses we really wanted to make sure it's the best we could be."

Harford County Fire and EMS posted on Facebook stating their radio channels will remain non-encrypted for now.

WJZ asked the Harford Sheriff's Office if this decision was made in direct response to the shooting at Joppatowne High School and deputies stated it was not. The switch to encrypted communications was something Harford County deputies have been working on for months.

On Thursday and Friday, students in grades 10 and 12 are expected to return to Joppatowne High School and dismiss three hours early.

On Monday, all students will return to school for regular school hours.