Police Department Partially Encrypted Discovered via RadioReference

Daphne Township Police

Baldwin, Alabama

How we verified this

RadioReference's 'Bay Minette, Daphne, Foley, Robertsdale' NXDN system page lists four encrypted Daphne police talkgroups as of August 2026 — including '261 / Daphne Police / Police: Dispatch / D Enc' — while the traffic and jail-operations talkgroups (263, 267) remain plain 'D'; Daphne is a city, not a township.

Checked against a primary source on 2026-08-09: radioreference.com . Encryption status changes without notice — confirm the current picture on the live RadioReference database before relying on it.

What you can do right now

Encryption Details

Encryption Type P25 AES-256
Scope Some talkgroups encrypted; dispatch audible per verification
Technical Details Inferred from RadioReference

Baldwin County Context

Daphne Township Police isn't an outlier here: 4 of the 6 public-safety agencies we track in Baldwin County are fully encrypted (67%), so most departments nearby have made the same move.

What This Means

Coverage here is uneven — parts of the system are locked and parts are open, so a scanner gives you an incomplete rather than an empty picture.

See encryption status nationwide Interactive map showing which US police departments have encrypted their radios. Open the encryption map →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Daphne Township Police radio encrypted?

Yes — Daphne Township Police's radio system runs on P25 AES-256 encryption. Coverage here is uneven — parts of the system are locked and parts are open, so a scanner gives you an incomplete rather than an empty picture.

Can I listen to Daphne Township Police on a police scanner?

Partially. Daphne Township Police encrypts some of its talkgroups while leaving others open, so some channels may still be accessible. Check RadioReference for specific talkgroup status.

Why did Daphne Township Police encrypt their radio?

Officer safety and operational security are the reasons agencies give. What rarely comes with that explanation is Baldwin County-specific evidence that open communications ever caused a problem, while the loss of public oversight and the friction with still-unencrypted neighboring agencies are both immediate and real.

Can Baldwin County reverse the encryption decision?

Yes, and some departments already have. Because encryption here is a choice rather than a technical necessity, the path back runs through the same people who chose it: budget hearings, records requests, and residents who keep asking in public.

What can I do about Daphne Township Police encryption?

Contact the officials who oversee Daphne Township Police's budget directly and ask why full encryption was chosen over partial alternatives. Pair that with a FOIA request for recordings and policy records, and look for an existing coalition in Baldwin County, or start one, since agencies respond differently to organized, sustained pressure than to individual complaints.

Data source: RadioReference Wiki

Checked against a primary source on 2026-08-09 — see "How we verified this" above. Encryption status changes; confirm at RadioReference before relying on it.

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