Is the age of "police" scanners over?

[workinwifdakids]

Disappointingly, our local Sheriff's department just went to an encrypted digital communications system - not just digital, but also encrypted. From what I've been reading, it's impervious to scanners. My questions are:

Is it true that there aren't scanners that can allow one to listen in to digital w/ added encryption?

If so, do you foresee any in the future?

As more and more departments nation-wide convert to digital plus encrypted, do you think this means the death of scanning for hobbyists and information seekers?

[BDK]

Pretty sure that's the point...

[Aesop]

It isn't over, but it's definitely curtailed.
There are plenty of other things to listen to besides the po-po.
But you couldn't expect the cops to stay stupid about this forever.

[Weetabix]

I've read that the interoperability channels are in the clear, and they're the ones that let you know something big is going on.

[randy]

As Weetabix said the national interoperability channels are un-encrypted and would probably remain so in any disaster situation, for operational and administrative reasons as much as for technical

(you can get a list of them for each band in the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide, NIFOG downloadable at the link)

Around here, the plan is for only certain LE channels to be encrypted (detectives, undercover, etc). Fire and EMS are not going to be encrypted. Many of the radios will have the capability to do so in the event it is needed, but will normally be run open.

There are plenty of scanners out there that will do digital (specifically P25). I don't know of any that will do encrypted, and even if they had the capability, you would still need the keys for each specific system/department, which are not available to the public.

But there would still be plenty to listen to if that's your thing.

[Weetabix]

There are plenty of scanners out there that will do digital (specifically P25). I don't know of any that will do encrypted, and even if they had the capability, you would still need the keys for each specific system/department, which are not available to the public.

I've also read that sometimes people forget to turn the encryption on and sometimes the encryption doesn't work.

If you like scanning, I'd say scan. There will be something there.

I suppose the fact that encrypted activity is going on at all would tell you something, too. Maybe if you had one of the close call (?) scanners, you'd know if activity was going on in your immediate area even if you couldn't listen in.