State Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, pushes for public access in Assembly Appropriations

Senate Bill 1000 would require law enforcement agencies to ensure public access to the radio communications of that agency by no later than 2024. Access could be through unencrypted radio communications on a radio frequency, streaming through an agency’s website, or upon request and for a reasonable fee. The bill passed the Senate in May and received its first public hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee Aug. 3, where it was placed in a suspense file, which allows it to further consider the fiscal impacts as a whole. The Assembly Appropriations Committee has scheduled an Aug. 11 hearing date to discuss the bill and related finances.

Becker said it was not right to encrypt information on public safety and law enforcement in current times, noting it was possible to protect people’s personal information and keep the public’s right to know around. He cited the California Highway Patrol, which adopted a hybrid approach of mostly unencrypted information unless it was personal information that is protected. Personal information is defined as something that can be used to “distinguish or trace” an individual. Examples include a name combined with a driver’s license or ID number. Officers commonly relay such information during traffic stops.

“It’s really a civil rights issue,” Becker said. “It’s providing people access to information that we have had for 80 years. This is not the time to decrease transparency.”

The switch comes from a California Department of Justice 2020 memo, which said law enforcement agencies must encrypt communicating personal information or otherwise alter policies, so the public cannot access the information. Several Bay Area cities, like Mountain View, San Jose and San Francisco, have switched to full encryption. Around 120 law enforcement agencies are fully encrypted and allow no public access. The San Bruno Police Department has asked the city for as much as $5 million to comply with state law and improve the spotty radio signals. San Bruno has estimated it could cost $1.5 million for compliance, with a need to move from its 400 megahertz frequency to the 800 megahertz frequency.

Opponents like the California State Sheriffs’ Association say the law is a significant burden to agencies that have already followed state and federal requirements to obtain new technology or have previously encrypted their communications. A legislative analysis of the bill from Assembly Appropriations found it will cost law enforcement agencies millions of dollars to allow public access to certain types of encrypted channels or make those channels unencrypted. The analysis also said Cal Fire, the California State University system and the California Community Colleges would need millions in funding to upgrade equipment to meet bill requirements.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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