P25 Upgrade: When Infrastructure Enables Encryption
A county of 588,000 residents upgraded to modern digital radio—and with it came encryption capability that could silence public access
Key Facts
The Infrastructure Story
Anne Arundel County's move to encryption didn't happen overnight—it came bundled with a necessary infrastructure upgrade. When the county transitioned to a Project 25 (P25) digital radio system, encryption became a checkbox, not a major policy debate.
This pattern repeats across the country: agencies upgrade aging analog systems to modern digital infrastructure, and encryption arrives as a "feature" rather than a deliberate transparency decision.
When encryption is bundled with necessary upgrades, communities often don't realize they're losing transparency until the radios go silent.
What P25 Actually Means
Project 25 is a digital radio standard developed for public safety. It offers real benefits—better coverage, clearer audio, improved interoperability between agencies. But it also makes encryption trivially easy.
P25 Benefits
- Digital clarity reduces missed communications
- Better building penetration
- Interoperability with state and federal agencies
- Enhanced coverage in rural areas
- GPS and text messaging capabilities
P25 Concerns
- Built-in AES-256 encryption support
- Encryption can be enabled per-channel
- No technical barrier to going fully dark
- Community often unaware of capability
- Decision made by administrators, not voters
"P25 is excellent technology for first responders. The problem isn't the radio system—it's the policy decisions that come with it."— Radio communications expert
The Baltimore Metro Context
Anne Arundel County sits between Baltimore and Washington D.C., making it part of one of the most densely monitored regions in America. The county includes:
Annapolis
State capital with significant government activity and naval presence
Glen Burnie
Major commercial area with high call volume
Severna Park
Residential communities between Baltimore and Annapolis
BWI Airport Area
Major transportation hub with multi-agency coordination
Scanner listeners in this region have historically monitored police activity across multiple jurisdictions. When one county encrypts, it affects the broader regional picture.
Who Loses Access
When Anne Arundel County enabled encryption, several groups lost the ability to monitor police communications:
The Capital Gazette and Baltimore Sun reporters covering Anne Arundel lose independent monitoring capability
Community safety volunteers can no longer coordinate awareness with police activity
Thousands who use scanners for traffic and accident information on I-97 and Route 50
Commercial services that respond to accidents lose situational awareness
Families monitoring for incidents near Naval Academy, AACC, and K-12 schools
The Interoperability Argument
Anne Arundel County emphasized that P25 encryption doesn't harm interoperability—they can still communicate with allied agencies. This is technically true, but it sidesteps the transparency question entirely.
The Claim
"Encryption doesn't impact our ability to work with other agencies."
The Reality
Interoperability between agencies and transparency to the public are separate issues. Solving one doesn't address the other.
Modern P25 systems can share encrypted keys between agencies, allowing inter-agency communication while still excluding the public. The technical capability to coordinate doesn't require public access.
Lessons for Other Communities
Anne Arundel's experience offers warnings for communities facing similar infrastructure upgrades:
Watch for upgrade announcements
P25 transitions are often announced as technical improvements without mentioning encryption implications.
Engage before implementation
Once encryption is enabled, reversing it is rare. The time to advocate is during the planning phase.
Separate the decisions
Demand that encryption policy be debated separately from infrastructure funding.
Request transparency provisions
Even with P25, agencies can maintain open dispatch while encrypting tactical channels.
The Maryland Landscape
Anne Arundel joins a growing list of Maryland jurisdictions moving toward encryption:
As the Baltimore-Washington corridor increasingly goes dark, the regional impact compounds. Journalists covering stories that cross county lines face multiple encrypted systems.
What Anne Arundel Residents Can Do
Request a public hearing on encryption policy and transparency alternatives
Request documents related to the P25 upgrade decision and encryption policy
Advocate for Seattle-style compromise: tactical encryption with open dispatch
Subscribe to The Capital Gazette and outlets advocating for transparency
Work with transparency advocates in Baltimore and DC area
Infrastructure Upgrades Shouldn't Mean Transparency Downgrades
P25 is good technology. Encryption is a policy choice. Communities can have modern radio systems without sacrificing public access to routine police communications.