Spring Hill Police, along with other departments in southern Johnson County, rolled out online logs earlier this year detailing calls for service from the previous 24 hours — completing a countywide effort to encrypt emergency radio calls that attempts to still provide near real-time information about radio traffic to the community.
A 2022 federal policy requires law enforcement to encrypt their radios, with the goal of protecting personal information like Social Security numbers and health conditions.
In an effort to remain transparent while still encrypting their radio channels, agencies across Johnson County began transitioning to 24-hour call-for-service logs in 2024 that anyone can view online.
“There’s a lot of sensitive information that goes out over the police radio,” said Spring Hill Police Chief Jim Sutterby. “So, it’s to protect individual privacy. You also have criminal justice information that’s shared on there, too. That’s the other reason, to keep people’s criminal history private.”
The Spring Hill log breaks down the responding agency, incident identification number, the time and date, the nature of the call and the location.
“It could be traffic stops, it could be calls we receive for any type of police service,” Sutterby said. “It really just gives a general idea of where the call is occurring. It’s meant to keep our community informed of what’s going on.”
Spring Hill was among the last agencies in the county to make the switch, including Gardner, Lake Quivira and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
“This change is part of a broader effort to protect personal information and enhance public safety. Open radio traffic once provided local transparency but today, it creates global vulnerability. Anyone, anywhere, can stream dispatch calls online. Radio encryption protects Johnson County residents,” said the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in a Facebook post.
In addition to the calls for service log, both the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and the Spring Hill Police Department offer a community crime map, breaking down where and what reported criminal activities recently happened in the area.
Similar efforts to encrypt police radio communications have drawn critiques in communities nationwide, including when Johnson County first started the transition.
Local critics have raised concerns that encryption make police and emergency response agencies less transparent, potentially damaging the public’s trust.
Encrypted communication, these critics contend, also runs the risk that bad or incomplete information might fill the voide, particularly on social media or in online forums like Reddit.
“The public has the right to know what is happening in their communities. We have the right to have oversight of our governmental affairs,” Cartherine Kost, an administrator of the Johnson County KS Community and Police Scanner Group on Facebook, told the Post two years ago, when local agencies began moving towards encryption.
“Encryption is one less way that we as citizens will be able to observe agencies and demand accountability,” she added.
In Spring Hill, however, Sutterby said the community has been quiet on the transition.
“I don’t have any significant feedback, especially negative feedback, I haven’t received anything directly,” Sutterby said. “It’s just been quiet. I haven’t heard anything positive or negative.”
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