I believe encryption is a good thing so long as FOIA is followed. Big time news agencies usually have a desk somewhere that's covered in radios from the city's

I believe encryption is a good thing so long as FOIA is followed. Big time news agencies usually have a desk somewhere that's covered in radios from the city's police, fire, ems, etc. that were bought from the agencies respective vendor with proper permission from the city. Small time street journalists don't have this capability since the radios are extremely costly and police agencies have a general disdain for people showing up with smartphones critiquing their work, as well as circumventing encryption by streaming it to the web. Numerous agencies are getting away from standard radio systems to networked LTE-based radios...aka cell phones. It's increasingly common that even on encrypted radios, dispatch will ask the attending party to move the conversation to cell phone. Some agencies are jumping on networked VOIP PTT radios and apps similar to Zello to save costs, which theoretically would still allow a path for media agencies to listen in appropriately, only making smaller journalists more angry at the inequity when they're denied a feed.