Chiefs, sheriffs promise more responsiveness as radio communications move offline

Officials took transparency concerns head on at Friday news briefing

In lieu of releasing police radio communications on open airwaves, South Dakota law enforcement are promising to be more responsive in getting information to the public.

Sheriffs and police chiefs in the state’s two largest counties unveiled plans to encrypt all law enforcement radio traffic beginning Nov. 13, with other emergency response agencies in those jurisdictions soon to follow.

It’s part of a nationwide trend in public safety that police agencies have adopted in 34 other states, according to stats provided by Rapid City Police Chief Don Hedrick during a Friday morning news conference held jointly with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, the Sioux Falls Police Department, and the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office.

And those agencies aren’t even the first to encrypt their radio signals in South Dakota: That distinction belongs to Yankton law enforcement.

NEWS: Police agencies in South Dakota's largest cities encrypting emergency response radio traffic