Critics blast decision on eve of East Bay police radios going silent to public

Critics blast decision by East Bay police agencies to cut off radio traffic to public

Oakland police and most law-enforcement agencies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties are going radio-silent over the public airwaves.

OAKLAND, Calif. - By early Wednesday morning, Oakland police radios - as well as most law enforcement agencies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties - will go silent. That means an information blackout for live breaking news, from barricaded suspects, shootings and other active crime scenes.

Agencies point to state privacy directive

What they're saying:

Oakland police and other departments say the change is necessary to protect private information - and maintain officer safety - to abide by a state Department of Justice bulletin directing law enforcement to protect sensitive data.

"It's disappointing, because the reality is that the privacy issues that were raised by the California Department of Justice could have been solved in all kinds of ways. Alternative radio channels, some encrypted, some not, using cell phones for personal information. It was not necessary to do basically a complete wipeout on the public radio system," said Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of Media Alliance, which had fought against encryption.

Oakland City Administrator Jestin Johnson said the city will still be transparent.

In a statement, Johnson said in part, "Information relayed across police radios remains public record even when encrypted, and we are committed to making sure when there are requests for this information that the department is responsive."

Critics question move on transparency grounds

What they're saying:

Civil rights attorney Jim Chanin monitors Oakland police, which has been under federal oversight for more than two decades.

"I think people need to know that the police are going to cover this robbery, cover this murder, that they're on their way, that they can feel comfortable that their police are doing everything they can to get the job done," Chanin said. "I can't believe that the Police Department doesn't want this as well."

Angela Barron is a freelance photographer who responds to breaking news on her trusty red motorcycle and sells footage to the news media, including KTVU.

"If they embraced the transparency, I think the community would embrace them more. How did we end up with federal oversight?" Barron asked.

Barron said she's more concerned about the public losing out on critical real-time information.

"I don't know how people of Oakland are really going to understand the impact of crime without the visual to match it," she said. And in my mind, I'm like, so am I gonna just cruise Oakland at random hours of the night and look for lights?"

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan

The Source: KTVU reporting

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