Los Angeles Radio Deep Dive: The Biggest Open City in America — and the Encryption Closing In
LAPD is not encrypted. As of June 2026, division dispatch and bureau tactical channels for America's second-largest city broadcast in the clear, with live feeds streaming around the clock. The real Los Angeles story is what's happening around LAPD: roughly 30 suburbs have gone fully dark, and the Sheriff's Department has quietly staged the infrastructure to follow. Correction: an earlier version of this page claimed LAPD fully encrypted its radio in 2019. That was false — we've verified the facts below against the live RadioReference database and Broadcastify feeds.
What LA listeners can monitor right now
LAPD division dispatch, LASD station dispatch, Long Beach PD, LAFD, LA County Fire, and CHP are all in the clear. LAPD runs conventional P25 Phase I — no trunking required — so even entry-level digital setups receive it. For the full channel-by-channel walkthrough, see our Los Angeles scanner guide.
Los Angeles radio by the numbers
The real Los Angeles timeline
Los Angeles never followed the encryption script. The city's own department stayed open while the agencies around it went dark.
California DOJ bulletin
The state DOJ requires agencies to protect personal information sent over the radio — by policy or by encryption. Many California agencies treat it as an encryption mandate. LAPD does not encrypt its dispatch.
The suburb wave
Roughly 30 LA County municipal departments go fully encrypted, including Pasadena, Burbank, and Glendale on the ICIS regional system, plus Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Torrance, and Inglewood — driven largely by California DOJ CJIS policy.
LASD stages encrypted dispatch on LA-RICS
Scanner listeners identify encrypted LA County Sheriff dispatch talkgroups staged on the LA-RICS P25 Phase II trunked system. Station dispatch still broadcasts in the clear on legacy analog 480 MHz UHF — but the migration path is now built.
LAPD remains in the clear
Division dispatch and bureau tac channels stay unencrypted on the city-owned conventional P25 Phase I simulcast system, with live Broadcastify feeds as continuous public proof. Only specialized units encrypt.
Who's encrypted in LA County — and who isn't
Status as of June 2026, verified against the live RadioReference database and active Broadcastify feeds. Encryption status changes — verify before relying on it.
| Agency | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles PD | In the Clear | Conventional P25 Phase I; division dispatch + bureau tacs open; specialized units encrypted |
| LA County Sheriff | Dispatch in the Clear | Analog 480 MHz UHF dispatch open; tactical AES-encrypted on LA-RICS; migration staged Nov 2025 |
| Long Beach PD | In the Clear | Live Broadcastify feed operating |
| Pasadena / Burbank / Glendale PD | Fully Encrypted | ICIS regional system |
| Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Torrance, Inglewood + ~25 more suburbs | Fully Encrypted | Per the RadioReference Encrypted Agencies list; CJIS-driven |
| California Highway Patrol | In the Clear | Analog low-band statewide; live feeds |
| LAFD / LA County Fire | In the Clear | LAFD analog 800 MHz; county fire open |
The pattern matters: it's not the giant downtown department hiding from the public — it's the ring of wealthy and mid-size suburbs. A pursuit that starts in audible LAPD territory goes silent the moment it crosses into Santa Monica or Pasadena.
The LASD migration: LA's next transparency fight
The biggest open question in Los Angeles radio is the Sheriff's Department. LASD polices the unincorporated county and dozens of contract cities — roughly 10 million residents fall under its umbrella.
Today: split system
Station dispatch broadcasts in the clear on the legacy analog 480 MHz UHF network — the same band hobbyists have monitored for decades. Tactical and sensitive traffic already runs AES-encrypted on LA-RICS.
November 2025: the staging
Encrypted LASD dispatch talkgroups appeared on the LA-RICS P25 Phase II trunked system. Nothing forces the department to keep simulcasting in the clear once dispatch moves.
If migration completes
Sheriff coverage for the county disappears from public monitoring — evacuations, pursuits, deputy-involved incidents — with no vote, no hearing, and likely no announcement.
The accountability stakes
LASD has faced years of scrutiny over deputy gangs and use-of-force cases. Real-time radio is one of the few independent windows into how the department actually operates.
Every fully-encrypted agency in LA County went dark the same way: quietly, on a technical timeline, with the public finding out when the scanners stopped. The LASD staging is the early warning. This time the warning is public before the switch.
Why LAPD's openness matters during fire season
Greater Los Angeles burns. During wildfire emergencies, residents and reporters can monitor LAPD divisions handling evacuations and road closures, LAFD and LA County Fire operations, and CHP freeway closures — all in the clear. That layered, real-time picture is exactly what residents of encrypted metros have lost.
It's also the strongest argument for keeping LA open. Encryption advocates claim public radio access is obsolete; LA's fire seasons demonstrate the opposite every year. The city that hosts more breaking-news infrastructure than any other in America still runs on the scanner layer — TV assignment desks, stringers, and neighborhood watchers all start with LAPD dispatch.
2020 protests: the surveillance asymmetry
LAPD's radio may be open, but the information relationship between the department and the public is not symmetrical. While transparency advocates defend the public's ability to hear police radio, LAPD has invested heavily in monitoring the public's communications.
Dataminr
Official emails showed LAPD worked with Dataminr, a controversial social media surveillance company, to monitor protesters' and journalists' social media accounts during the civil uprisings. The department initially denied using the system during BLM protests, but records contradicted that claim.
ABTShield pilot program
LAPD piloted social media monitoring software that collected millions of tweets in October and November 2020 from users throughout the United States. A large portion of posts collected were about police reform protests.
Independent review findings
The National Policing Institute conducted an independent assessment of LAPD's response to mass demonstrations between May 27 and June 7, 2020, documenting significant problems with the protest response. Open radio was one of the few tools the public had to observe that response as it happened.
Departments that push encryption cite privacy. During the same period these debates played out, LAPD collected millions of social media posts from Americans across the country. The asymmetry is the point: the public's window into police operations is contested, while police monitoring of the public expands.
LA-RICS: the system to watch
LA-RICS (the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System) is a joint powers authority radio network built to unify communications for agencies across LA County. Its P25 Phase II trunked voice system — system ID 7904 in the RadioReference database — already carries LASD tactical traffic under AES encryption.
Regional consolidation has real operational benefits: interoperability during disasters, shared infrastructure costs, modern coverage. But a unified encrypted-capable system also means region-wide encryption becomes a configuration choice rather than a construction project. The November 2025 appearance of staged encrypted LASD dispatch talkgroups on LA-RICS shows exactly how that works in practice.
Public money built LA-RICS for public safety coordination. Whether it also becomes the mechanism that ends public monitoring of the Sheriff's Department is a policy decision no voter has been asked about.
What's at stake if LA goes dark
Everything below still works in Los Angeles today — and disappeared in every metro that encrypted:
Real-time emergency information
During pursuits, active incidents, and disasters, Angelenos can monitor the police response directly instead of waiting for press conferences.
Independent journalism
LA's TV stations, the LA Times, and freelance stringers verify breaking news against live radio instead of depending solely on the Media Relations Division.
Historical documentation
After the 1992 LA riots, scanner recordings provided an independent record of events. Open radio keeps that kind of documentation possible.
Community oversight
Copwatch and community accountability organizations still have a primary tool for documenting police behavior in marginalized communities.
Wildfire situational awareness
In a region with increasing fire danger, residents can cross-check evacuation orders and road closures against live police and fire traffic.
The suburb gap, already here
In the ~30 encrypted suburbs, all of the above is already gone. The encrypted ring around LAPD is the preview of what full encryption would mean.
What you can hear today
Status as of June 2026 — verify current details at RadioReference before programming:
Full programming details, feed links, and scanner recommendations are in our Best Scanner for Los Angeles guide.
What you can do
Los Angeles is the largest open-radio city in America. Keeping it that way — and reversing the suburb wave — takes pressure applied before decisions are final:
- Watch LA County Board of Supervisors and LA-RICS joint powers authority agendas for LASD radio migration items — that's where the dispatch encryption decision will surface
- Ask LA City Council members and police commissioners to put LAPD's open-dispatch practice in writing as policy, not just custom
- Use the California Public Records Act to request LASD and suburb encryption planning documents, CJIS compliance reviews, and cost analyses
- Support state-level access legislation — Senator Becker's SB 719 stalled, but the California News Publishers Association and First Amendment Coalition continue to push for statewide media access requirements
- In encrypted suburbs like Santa Monica and Pasadena, cite Palo Alto's 2022 reversal and the CHP/Sacramento policy model as proof the DOJ mandate doesn't require blackouts
- Document concrete cases where open LAPD radio served the public — wildfire coverage, breaking news, accountability stories — and share them with council members
Take Action for Transparency
Your voice matters. Here are concrete ways to advocate for open police communications in your community.
Contact Your Representatives
Use our templates to email your local officials about police radio encryption policies.
Get StartedRead Case Studies
See how encryption has affected real communities - from Highland Park to Chicago.
View CasesSpread Awareness
Share evidence about police radio encryption with your network and community.
Public Testimony
Learn how to speak effectively at city council and public safety meetings.
Prepare to SpeakRelated resources
Sources & further reading
- RadioReference database: City of Los Angeles conventional P25 system (LAPD division dispatch, in the clear) and LA-RICS P25 Phase II trunked system (sid 7904) — verified June 2026
- Broadcastify: live LAPD bureau feeds (e.g., feed 26569), Long Beach PD (feed 24051), and CHP LA/Orange County (feed 10239)
- RadioReference Encrypted Agencies wiki: list of fully encrypted LA County municipal departments
- RadioReference forums: listener reports of encrypted LASD dispatch talkgroups staged on LA-RICS (November 2025)
- LA Taco: "Official Emails Show LAPD Worked With Dataminr During George Floyd Protests"
- Brennan Center for Justice: "Documents Reveal LAPD Collected Millions of Tweets"
- National Policing Institute: "Review of LAPD's Response to First Amendment Assemblies"