Annunciation shooting leads Minneapolis to temporarily make police radio traffic public again

As numerous law enforcement agencies flocked to Minneapolis following the Annunciation Church mass shooting, the city temporarily made its police radio traffic publicly accessible for the first time in months in order to facilitate communication between departments.

In May, the city “encrypted” its police radios, meaning that the public could no longer listen into calls between officers and dispatchers regarding active incidents. In doing so, Minneapolis joined departments nationwide opting to lock down radio communication, saying they are trying to abide by federal requirements that prohibit publicly airing some information, and to ensure officers’ safety in situations where a suspect might be listening to the scanners. Critics countered that encryption is a blow to transparency and police accountability.

But just after 10 a.m. on Aug. 27, about an hour and a half after the mass shooting in south Minneapolis where Robin Westman murdered two children and injured 21 others, the radios became unencrypted, just as they were prior to May.

The switch was made so the departments assisting with response to 911 calls and school security details in Minneapolis following the shooting could communicate simultaneously on unencrypted channels, Office of Community Safety spokesman Brian Feintech said in an email. On Aug. 28, Gov. Tim Walz deployed 14 State Patrol troopers and six Department of Natural Resources enforcement officers to patrol near schools and churches after the shooting.

“As the incident expanded to a statewide response with assistance coming from far-flung partners we don’t often partner with — including those who have not yet adopted encryption — we switched to using unencrypted channels that afternoon," Feintech said.

The police radios stayed encrypted during the police’s initial response to the Annunciation Church shooting, he added.

Unencryption took place each day for a 10-day period from Aug. 27 through Sept. 5. The unencrypted radio was only available from the early mornings through the early evening, when the city switched back to full encryption for nighttime hours, scanner archive websites show.

“There will be shortly,” someone responded.

During this period of unencryption, scanner listeners were able to hear calls in Minneapolis detailing the nature of incidents throughout the city.

Some examples of Minneapolis police radio heard on Aug. 27 included reports of an assault in progress, a break-in of an apartment building, and at least one call with an officer confirming certain channels were becoming unencrypted.

On the afternoon of Sept. 5, the city went back to encrypting around the clock when the security details ended and outside agencies left, Feintech said.

The temporary change comes amid a shift in Minnesota cities to increasingly encrypt radios, and a debate over whether it’s necessary.

Departments that encrypt say it’s necessary to ensure safety of the public and officers in situations where suspects may be listening to the scanners as they’re being pursued. The supporters also say it’s necessary to abide by federal guidelines for not airing some personal information.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher has been among the few members of Twin Cities law enforcement vocal against encryption, and last month said that he believes about 98% of police radio traffic isn’t prohibited information.

St. Paul police have indicated the department would begin encrypting as well, starting this fall. St. Paul Assistant Chief Paul Ford said encryption is also to protect victim and witness information that can be aired and is then associated with an incident.