The Toronto Police Service has switched out its analogue radios with encrypted digital radios, silencing scanners that members of the public were previously able to use to eavesdrop on police communications.
Outgoing Police Chief Bill Blair confirmed the change in technology while speaking with reporters at an event held in his honour at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club on Tuesday morning.
The move comes five years after the force first announced plans to switch over to digital radios at a cost of $35 million
“Overwhelmingly the majority of our communications are not secret but at the same time there are lots of circumstances where our officers are communicating with each other and sharing information which is really about private citizens and should remain private. We have a responsibility to all the people that we interact with to respect their privacy and maintain the security of their information when they call us for help,” Blair said. “There are also quite frankly some police operations where it is necessary to not alert the media and the public but also the bad guys. This is necessary to maintain the security and confidentiality of the information we are dealing with.”
In recent years the Toronto Police Service has used encrypted digital radios in a number of circumstances, including the staging of covert raids, but until today regular police cruisers were still outfitted with anolog radio technology.
Discussing the move with reporters, Blair dismissed a suggestion that it will impact police accountability, noting that police in jurisdictions across Canada have already made the shift.
“Not at all. All of the information is recorded and all of it is subject to various types of freedom of information requests. This really just enables us to do our operations securely and with integrity for the security of the public.” he said.
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