Boise International Airport
Ada, Idaho
How we verified this
As of August 2026 ICAWIN lists the airport's own talkgroups as D Enc — "1122 Boise PD Airport | Airport Police" and both "Boise AptOps" airport operations talkgroups — though airport firefighting shares Ada County's unencrypted "1413 Ada Fire 14/ARFF".
Encryption Details
Verified Talkgroup Data
Ada County Context
Boise International Airport isn't an outlier here: 5 of the 5 public-safety agencies we track in Ada County are fully encrypted (100%), so most departments nearby have made the same move.
See every agency we track in Ada 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 Boise International Airport radio encrypted?
Yes. Boise International Airport 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 Boise International Airport on a police scanner?
No. Boise International Airport has fully encrypted their radio communications using P25 AES-256. No consumer scanner can decode encrypted transmissions.
Why did Boise International Airport 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 Boise International Airport to know what was happening nearby.
Can Ada County reverse the encryption decision?
Yes — nothing about the underlying radio technology forces this. It's a decision Ada County officials made and can revisit, and other communities have pushed departments back toward open channels through sustained council pressure and coalition-building.
What can I do about Boise International Airport encryption?
Three things carry weight, in this order: a public-records request for Boise International Airport's encryption policy and radio recordings, a turn at the microphone during Ada County budget discussions, and finding the other people locally already asking the same question. Individually these are easy to deflect; together they are not.