NYPD Radio Encryption: $390 Million to Hide Police Communications
For 92 years, New Yorkers could monitor NYPD radio. Journalists used scanners to expose police misconduct, including the 2014 killing of Eric Garner. The department is now spending $390 million to seal those communications off, over City Council opposition and civil liberties objections.
What New Yorkers can still monitor after NYPD encryption
NYPD dispatch is gone, and Hochul's veto means it stays gone. But the unencrypted layer around the five boroughs is still live: federal agencies, JFK/LGA aviation, amateur repeaters, FDNY fireground on many scenes, and NOAA weather. If you want to keep listening in NYC, this is the stack that still works.
Key Facts at a Glance
Breaking a 92-year tradition
The NYPD has used radio since 1932. For nearly a century, journalists and residents could tune in, which gave the public an independent window into police activity and let reporters cover breaking news without waiting for department press releases.
In 2023, the NYPD began encrypting precinct channels, starting in Brooklyn. By late 2024, the transition was complete, cutting off public access to one of the world's largest police departments.
"By encrypting its radio communications, the NYPD is breaking with an almost century-old practice of allowing the press and the public to access information about critical developments in their communities."
— Daniel Schwarz, NYCLU Senior Privacy and Technology StrategistThe Eric Garner case
On July 17, 2014, Daily News photographer Ken Murray was monitoring police radio when he picked up transmissions from Staten Island and drove to the scene. NYPD officers had just killed Eric Garner using a chokehold.
Murray found witness Ramsey Orta, who had recorded the incident on his phone. The video—Garner saying "I can't breathe" 11 times before dying—became one of the most consequential pieces of police accountability footage in the country.
Why the scanner mattered
Without scanner access, Murray would not have known about the incident for hours—possibly long enough for police to locate and suppress the video. Getting there in time was only possible because the radio was open.
That is the scenario encryption forecloses. Critics argue the NYPD's push to encrypt was never really about officer safety—it was about controlling what gets documented.
The $390 million question
At a City Council hearing, NYPD Chief of Information Technology Ruben Beltran put a number on it: $390 million to replace the old analog network with a fully encrypted digital system.
The department's justifications
"Bad actors have used our radios against us"
The NYPD claims some suspects have fled by monitoring police channels to anticipate officer movements.
Frequency hijacking
Others have allegedly broken into police radio systems to disrupt communications with music or their own voice.
"Ambulance chasers"
Attorneys and tow truck operators allegedly follow scanner traffic to reach accident scenes ahead of competitors.
What the record shows
None of these justifications survive scrutiny. In 92 years of open radio:
- No documented major crimes enabled by scanner access have been produced by the department or independent reviewers
- Frequency hijacking is already a federal crime and can be addressed without full encryption
- "Ambulance chasing" is a civil enforcement matter, not a public safety argument
- The encryption push accelerated after the 2020 police accountability protests
Impact on journalism
Encryption has forced New York journalists to depend entirely on NYPD press releases for breaking news—the department now controls what gets out and when.
Photojournalists hit hardest
A reporter can reconstruct a story from documents. A photographer cannot go back and shoot an image from an hour earlier. Without scanner access, breaking news photography in New York City now depends on NYPD choosing to notify the press.
Special Operations feed lost
In January 2025, NYC journalists lost access to the NYPD "Special Operations" radio feed, cutting off real-time information during high-profile incidents.
Department controls the narrative
The NYPD now decides what information reaches the public and when. That is precisely what press freedom organizations warned would happen.
"The NYPD began encrypting precinct channels more than a year ago, and journalists have already lost real-time access in multiple parts of the city. Any further delay in implementing a clear, enforceable access policy simply prolongs a situation where the public is less informed and accountability is diminished."
— Mickey Osterreicher, National Press Photographers AssociationThe legislative battle
City Council acts
In December 2025, the New York City Council passed Bill 1460-2025 by a vote of 41-7. Sponsored by Manhattan Council Member Gale Brewer, the bill requires the NYPD to make certain radio communications available to credentialed journalists in real-time, with narrow exceptions for sensitive tactical operations.
Governor Hochul's veto
One day after the City Council vote, Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a state bill that would have required press access to encrypted police radio across New York State.
The "Keep Police Radio Public Act," introduced by Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, would have required all New York law enforcement agencies to preserve radio access for journalists, volunteer first responders, and the general public.
NYPD begins quietly encrypting precinct channels in Brooklyn
Full encryption rollout completed, ending 92 years of public access
Journalists lose access to Special Operations radio feed
City Council passes press access bill 41-7; Hochul vetoes state bill
Civil liberties response
Civil liberties and press freedom organizations have been consistent in their opposition to NYPD encryption:
NYCLU
Called encryption a break with "an almost century-old practice" that the public depended on for information about their communities.
National Press Photographers Association
Warned that "the public is less informed and accountability is diminished."
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
"Again and again, this administration shows they are not committed to transparency."
"They claim this is about public safety, but transparency is absolutely essential to public safety and law enforcement."
— Public Advocate Jumaane WilliamsThe post-2020 pattern
The nationwide encryption surge after 2020 was not a coincidence. Departments came under intense public scrutiny for misconduct documented in real time on scanners during the George Floyd protests. Open radio channels that summer:
- Captured racist remarks by officers over the airwaves
- Exposed real-time coordination of crowd control tactics
- Gave journalists independent verification of police claims
- Produced evidence used in subsequent misconduct investigations
Full encryption makes any of that impossible. The NYPD's push to encrypt routine channels—not just sensitive operations—came directly in the wake of those protests. That timing matters.
What New Yorkers can do
Push for Local Law 46 implementation
Contact your City Council member and demand the NYPD meet the law's deadlines for press access. The legislation passed—enforcement is the next fight.
Pressure state legislators
Hochul vetoed the statewide bill, but it can be reintroduced. Contact your state senator and assembly member.
Support press freedom organizations
The National Press Photographers Association and the NYCLU are actively fighting for restored public access.
Follow local accountability journalism
Outlets covering NYPD transparency need readers and support. Share stories about how encryption affects coverage in your neighborhood.
Sources
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