Assistant Fire Chief told the Sheboygan City Licensing Hearings and Public Safety Committee that the Fire Department plans to begin encrypting its primary dispatch channel and three private channels later this year or early next year to improve firefighter safety and protect citizen privacy.

"We're going to start encrypting some of our radio channels for the fire department," the assistant chief said, explaining that initial dispatches would no longer be available live on public scanners. He said the department frequently works on incidents that are sensitive or involve private individuals and that encryption reduces the chance of bystanders arriving on scene or private information being broadcast in real time.

The assistant chief said the majority of operational channels will still allow the public to hear incidents after dispatch and that any radio traffic can be obtained later through an open records request. He told the committee the county radio committee and its law committee have already approved the change, and that costs were minimal because recently purchased radios included encryption capability.

Alder committee members asked whether encrypting channels would eliminate any operational advantages of public scanner access and whether implementation would be costly. The assistant chief said the department has alternative frequencies for partner communications and that the cost impact was minimal because the encryption capability was included with the new radios.

The briefing was informational; the committee did not take formal action on the item.