The Ocean City Police Transitioned to Encrypted Radio Transmissions
Ocean City, MD (March 4, 2024): The Ocean City Police and several other Worcester County law enforcement agencies transitioned to encrypted radio transmissions for all law enforcement activity. This transition occurred at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, March 1, 2024.
The Ocean City Police Department prides itself on keeping the residents and visitors safe. Public Safety was one of the leading factors in moving to encryption. When people first think about public safety, they think about being kept safe from acts of violence, but there is so much more to it. Identity theft cases are at an all-time high across the county. According to the National Council on Identity Theft Protection, simple methods, such as traditional identity theft, and more complicated ones like synthetic identity theft, are all increasing. Experts believe that there is a new victim every 22 seconds.
Law enforcement personnel share sensitive information such as names, social security numbers, driver’s license information, addresses, and criminal histories daily over the radio. When this information was shared before encryption, anyone with a digital scanner could copy down your personal information. Increases in identity theft were among the factors that led the FBI to update its Criminal Justice Information Services security policy at the end of 2022. This change recommended that any radio communication that includes the transmission of criminal justice information (CJI) be encrypted to prevent the dissemination of protected information beyond those that are authorized.
Identity theft is not the only public safety factor, however. Encryption of law enforcement radio channels also protects the officers. Suspects have been known to monitor radio transmissions to determine law enforcement response time and patrol tactics. This can assist the suspects in planning crimes and in eluding law enforcement responding to the crime they are actively committing.
By transitioning to the encrypted radio channels, the Ocean City Police Department and fellow Worcester County law enforcement agencies are working towards public safety and remaining compliant with the CJIS recommendations. The March 1st effective date coincided with the Worcester County re-banding efforts. All radios that use Worcester County radio towers were required to be reprogrammed. Timing this transition with the required update was a cost-effective move. Changing over to encryption had no fiscal impact on the Town of Ocean City residents.
The Ocean City Police Department will continue to be transparent and provide the highest degree of ethical behavior, professional conduct, and quality police services to all residents and visitors. We will continue to post regular updates on our Facebook Page @ocpdmdinfo. We also offer a Daily Bulletin on our website (http://p2c.ocpdmd.com/DailyBulletin.aspx), which allows you to see arrests, citations/summons, etc.
The Ocean City Police Department is prepared and proactively handling criminal violations and citizen complaints of illegal activity to ensure the safety of our residents and visitors. We want to remind citizens that if they see something suspicious or have concerns about possible criminal activity occurring in Ocean City, contact us. We encourage you to call our Tip Line at 410-520-5136, email us at [email protected], or contact the Police Department directly at 410-723-6610.
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