[FedCom] Boston FBI

[Chris Parris]

Jeff, it could be the FBI - I have heard some extensive surveillance  
operations in the clear. Sometimes it will be an operation involving  
units from other agencies or offices that may not have the same  
encryption key, and they just operated in the clear. But I've heard  
the same from other agencies as well...


There are some in this hobby who insist that anything you hear that  
is not encrypted on the FBI and other federal channels is just  
training. Not sure I buy that...

- Chris


On Nov 10, 2007, at 9:15 AM, Jeff Kenyon wrote:

> Well, then I don't know the agency then that was engaging in a  
> chase and
> watching some folks
>
>
> On Sat, 10 Nov 2007, Chris Parris wrote:
>
>> Jeff,
>>
>> Since the FBI was one of the first federal agencies to adopt
>> encryption back in the early 90's, they have had a reputation of
>> keeping their traffic as secure as possible. Sure, occasionally
>> radios would drop their code keys and they would run in the clear for
>> a while. Some cities have certain repeaters that seem to stay in the
>> clear all the time, but for the most part, they do keep the
>> encryption on.
>>
>> As they transition to P-25 digital gear, I suspect the encryption
>> policy will be maintained. In fact, the P-25 make keeping the
>> encryption on much easier, as the radio system users shouldn't notice
>> any voice quality difference between clear and encrypted, as there
>> was in the analog days. Plus the radios can be programmed with the
>> secure mode turned on full time...
>>
>> As far as the FBI using the forthcoming IWN system, they are probably
>> going to be one of the prime users of this system as it starts
>> showing up across the country. They are already one of the major
>> users of the Pacific Northwest portion of the IWN system that is on
>> the air now. The need to replace their aging VHF radio system was one
>> of the prime motivations for the IWN project in the first place.
>>
>> - Chris
>>
>> Chris Parris
>> Fed Files Columnist
>> Monitoring Times Magazine
>> chrisparris at monitoringtimes.com
>> http://www.monitoringtimes.com
>> http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/