D.C. To Discontinue Public Safety Radio Encryption for Nonsensitive Communications
Washington, D.C.'s Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) Department will soon stop using encrypted channels on its public safety radios for most operations, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office said Wednesday. “Starting in March, unencrypted channels will be used for all standard…
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operations, while still maintaining encryption capabilities for events that contained sensitive communication,” City Administrator Rashad Young said in a news release. “These new protocols will ensure that DC FEMS can seamlessly communicate with their counterpart agencies from other jurisdictions while embracing encryption technology that will ensure the safety and security of residents and visitors during incidents deemed sensitive.” Bowser, a Democrat, began reviewing the change in December, before the start of her term, in response to concerns from fire chiefs in neighboring jurisdictions and other stakeholders that encryption might inhibit cross-agency communication. D.C. Firefighters Association President Ed Smith praised Bowser, in a statement, “for reversing a bad decision that was made by the prior administration.” Former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, a Democrat, championed radio encryption in response to the fatal September 2013 shooting at the Washington Navy Yard military complex. FEMS and D.C.’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency have disputed claims by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials that encryption caused radio connectivity problems for first responders involved in the Jan. 12 rescue of passengers from a smoke-filled tunnel outside of WMATA’s L’Enfant Plaza Metrorail station. The National Transportation Safety Board is still examining the radio communication problems as part of its ongoing investigation of that incident, in which one person died and 84 others went to D.C.-area hospitals. The dispute prompted scrutiny from Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and other D.C.-area members of Congress (see 1501230066 and 1502030055). WMATA and area fire departments met Wednesday to begin formalizing a process for coordinating communication on changes to agencies’ radio systems in response to Warner’s concerns about a lack of sufficient coordination, a WMATA spokesman said.