Washington State's 2026 Encryption Wave

What is PSERN?

PSERN is a $273 million regional infrastructure upgrade, funded by a voter-approved levy, that replaced aging radio systems across King County with modern P25 digital capabilities for police, fire, and EMS agencies throughout the region.

Agency-by-Agency Status

Snohomish County: $72M and fully dark since May 2025

Snohomish County went dark on May 6, 2025. The county's $72 million radio overhaul covered 43 public safety agencies and 5,000 radios serving 844,000 residents. It runs entirely on its own system, not PSERN. Sheriff Susanna Johnson cited first responder safety, investigative privacy, and public privacy. Scanners get nothing from county law enforcement.

The Snohomish County transition is significant for one reason: it happened before the 2026 King County wave and with no public controversy. That may be why it's less discussed. By the time PSERN agencies announced their plans, Snohomish was already a year into its blackout.

Skagit County: encrypting in stages through summer 2026

Skagit County is going dark in stages. Sedro-Woolley, Anacortes, and Swinomish went dark first; Burlington and Mount Vernon follow by July 2026. Skagit 911 is keeping mutual aid frequencies open, which helps with cross-county coordination, but everyday dispatch traffic is gone for scanner listeners.

Skagit's system has had encryption capability since 2019; the agencies simply hadn't enabled it. Once a few departments flipped, the others followed with minimal public discussion.

Seattle's Middle-Ground Approach

Seattle chose partial encryption in the 2026 wave. Both Seattle Police and Seattle Fire are encrypting tactical channels while keeping dispatch open to the public.

The approach preserves some public access while addressing agency concerns about tactical security. It is similar to models used in Philadelphia and parts of Ohio and could work as a compromise template elsewhere.

Federal Way's Full Encryption

Federal Way went the other direction from Seattle, implementing full encryption in Q1 2026. Only first responders can now access radio communications. Traditional scanners receive nothing from Federal Way police.

Bothell Fire & Police

Bothell announced that both its Fire and Police departments would implement enhanced encryption in early 2026, citing protection of sensitive personal and health information—the same rationale Seattle used. Which channels remain open has not been publicly clarified.

Seattle Fire: The HIPAA Rationale

Seattle Fire's encryption announcement led with HIPAA and patient privacy. Medical calls do involve protected health information transmitted over radio.

Seattle Fire's approach—encrypting tactical channels while keeping dispatch open—handles the HIPAA concern without going dark entirely.

The Regional Domino Effect

Washington's 2026 wave illustrates how regional infrastructure drives regional encryption. Once PSERN was in place, the question inside departments shifted from "Can we encrypt?" to "Why haven't we?"

This pattern has played out in New Jersey (NJICS), Minnesota (ARMER), California's East Bay, and now Washington. Snohomish County built its own system and flipped entirely in 2025. King County agencies are moving through PSERN. Skagit is using infrastructure it bought in 2019 but never activated for encryption. Three different technical paths, same outcome. Opposing encryption at the individual agency level is ineffective once a regional system has standardized on it — the fight has to happen at the regional governance level before the infrastructure goes in.

What makes Washington different

Three things set Washington's 2026 wave apart from other regional encryption rollouts:

What you can do