• 
• 

BY JOSH DAVISNorth Country This Week

Three North Country lawmakers voted against a bill that would improve access to emergency radio communications. 

Assemblyman Scott Gray (R-Watertown) and Sens. Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury) and Mark Walczyk (R,C-Watertown) each cast nay votes on the “Keep Police Radio Public” Act which passed the New York State Senate June 5 by a 38-22 margin. 

The Bill also passed the Assembly Thursday, and relates to access to encrypted radio communications used by some emergency responders and police agencies. 

The legislation is intended to ensure real-time access to radio communications, and is particularly intended to retain transparency for journalists by mandating access to encrypted radio channels.  Some exceptions will be made with respect to sensitive information, such as that which could imperil public safety if revealed. 

The widespread availability of digital radio technologies has also brought a move toward the use of encrypted radio communications by emergency personnel. The justification section of the legislation reads that this shift “not only prevents the public from having access to important information about police activity, but dangerously inhibits news organizations from tracking and reporting on police actions.”

St. Lawrence County police agencies and first responders currently use a combination of traditional VHF and UHF radio and encrypted or trunked radio systems. Trunked systems use multiple frequencies to move emergency communications across radio channels, obscuring them from traditional scanner listeners while ensuring that emergency personnel hear each transmission by automatically tuning their transceivers to the appropriate channel or frequency. Trunked and other encrypted radio signals appear as noise to a radio without the sufficient means to unscramble it. 

The legislation states that  “Though agencies may need to at times protect

sensitive information that may be conveyed over the course of these communications, a balance can be struck” to provide sufficient access to allow essential reporting of emergencies and police news.

Under the new law, departments using encrypted radio would need to make provisions to allow access to said transmissions. 

Similar legislation has been proposed or enacted in California,Illinois, and Colorado.  

An earlier version of the bill also passed Senate in 2024 but failed to clear the Assembly. Its primary sponsor is Sen. Michael Gianaris, a Democrat from the 12th District representing Queens. 

It will now be sent to the office of Governor Kathy Hochul.