Honolulu Ocean Safety Society
Honolulu, Hawaii
How we verified this
As of August 2026 all nine Honolulu Ocean Safety talkgroups RadioReference lists on the Honolulu City and County Public Safety System (P25) are encrypted, including "2500 OS DISP — Ocean Safety Dispatch — T Enc".
Encryption Details
Verified Talkgroup Data
Honolulu County Context
Honolulu Ocean Safety Society isn't an outlier here: 8 of the 8 public-safety agencies we track in Honolulu County are fully encrypted (100%), so most departments nearby have made the same move.
See every agency we track in Honolulu County → County encryption overview →
What This Means
Every channel this agency runs, including day-to-day dispatch, is encrypted. That shuts out the public and local reporters, and it can complicate coordination with nearby agencies that still expect to hear it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Honolulu Ocean Safety Society radio encrypted?
Yes. Honolulu Ocean Safety Society uses P25 AES-256 encryption. Every channel this agency runs, including day-to-day dispatch, is encrypted. That shuts out the public and local reporters, and it can complicate coordination with nearby agencies that still expect to hear it.
Can I listen to Honolulu Ocean Safety Society on a police scanner?
No. Honolulu Ocean Safety Society has fully encrypted their radio communications using P25 AES-256. No consumer scanner can decode encrypted transmissions.
Why did Honolulu Ocean Safety Society encrypt their radio?
Agencies cite officer safety and operational security. Those are assertions rather than findings — no local evidence is typically produced — while the effects are concrete and land straight away on anyone who relied on hearing Honolulu Ocean Safety Society to know what was happening nearby.
Can Honolulu County reverse the encryption decision?
Nothing technical prevents it. Honolulu Ocean Safety Society operates encrypted because someone decided it should, and decisions of that kind get revisited when councils hear sustained, organised pressure rather than isolated complaints.
What can I do about Honolulu Ocean Safety Society encryption?
Three things carry weight, in this order: a public-records request for Honolulu Ocean Safety Society's encryption policy and radio recordings, a turn at the microphone during Honolulu County budget discussions, and finding the other people locally already asking the same question. Individually these are easy to deflect; together they are not.