NULLWATCH · A live watch on public-safety radio going dark
16.9% of U.S. public-safety voice channels are encrypted — 585 encrypted or partial sources across 3,139 counties and 51 states. Recently going dark: San Diego County Detention Facilities, San Diego, CA.
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16.9% of U.S. public-safety voice channels encrypted nationwide
PUBLIC-SAFETY ENCRYPTION MAP
- Encrypted
- Partial
- Clear
- No data
| STATE | STATUS | % ENC | GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | PARTIAL | 50.0% | D |
| Florida | PARTIAL | 36.7% | C |
| Virginia | PARTIAL | 36.2% | C |
| New Jersey | PARTIAL | 35.7% | C |
| Tennessee | PARTIAL | 34.3% | C |
| New York | PARTIAL | 33.7% | C |
| Maine | PARTIAL | 33.3% | C |
| Wisconsin | PARTIAL | 33.3% | C |
| Arizona | PARTIAL | 32.8% | C |
| Georgia | PARTIAL | 31.1% | C |
| North Carolina | PARTIAL | 30.6% | C |
| Maryland | PARTIAL | 30.4% | C |
| Alaska | PARTIAL | 30.0% | C |
| Rhode Island | PARTIAL | 30.0% | C |
| District of Columbia | PARTIAL | 28.6% | C |
| Alabama | PARTIAL | 27.8% | C |
| Texas | PARTIAL | 27.6% | C |
| Connecticut | PARTIAL | 27.3% | C |
| Kansas | PARTIAL | 26.9% | C |
| Pennsylvania | PARTIAL | 26.9% | C |
| Illinois | PARTIAL | 25.7% | C |
| Delaware | PARTIAL | 25.0% | C |
| Hawaii | PARTIAL | 25.0% | C |
| Idaho | PARTIAL | 25.0% | C |
| New Mexico | PARTIAL | 25.0% | C |
| Oregon | PARTIAL | 25.0% | C |
| South Carolina | PARTIAL | 25.0% | C |
| Indiana | PARTIAL | 24.2% | C |
| California | PARTIAL | 22.6% | C |
| Nevada | PARTIAL | 20.0% | B |
| Oklahoma | PARTIAL | 20.0% | B |
| West Virginia | PARTIAL | 20.0% | B |
| Kentucky | PARTIAL | 19.6% | B |
| Washington | PARTIAL | 19.4% | B |
| Ohio | PARTIAL | 18.4% | B |
| Massachusetts | PARTIAL | 17.4% | B |
| Iowa | PARTIAL | 16.7% | B |
| Montana | PARTIAL | 16.7% | B |
| Nebraska | PARTIAL | 16.7% | B |
| South Dakota | PARTIAL | 16.7% | B |
| Colorado | PARTIAL | 15.0% | B |
| New Hampshire | PARTIAL | 14.3% | B |
| Louisiana | PARTIAL | 13.6% | B |
| Arkansas | PARTIAL | 13.2% | B |
| Minnesota | PARTIAL | 12.5% | B |
| Missouri | PARTIAL | 12.5% | B |
| Wyoming | PARTIAL | 12.5% | B |
| Michigan | PARTIAL | 11.5% | B |
| Mississippi | PARTIAL | 7.7% | B |
| Utah | PARTIAL | 5.0% | A |
| Vermont | CLEAR | 0.0% | A+ |
▾ Show all 51 states ▴ Show top 12
MOST ENCRYPTED
- State Police PARTIAL · 55
- Ambulance Services PARTIAL · 25
- Rhode Island State Police PARTIAL · 25
- Boston Area Police Emergency Radio Network (BAPERN) PARTIAL · 20
- Alaska State Troopers (State Police) PARTIAL · 16
HOW WE READ enc 0/1/2
Clear channels count as visible, partial systems count as degraded, and encrypted rows carry the blackout status.
SCORE FORMULA
(encrypted + 0.5 × partial) ÷ total, over voice resources only. County and state grades combine agencies and the trunked systems serving them; the national headline weights every public-safety voice channel.
SOURCE
Attribution and per-record verification links point users to the source for raw radio detail.
VERIFY ON RADIOREFERENCE ↗// REFERENCE
FAQ
What does encrypted mean here?
Encrypted means public-safety voice traffic is not monitorable from the published channel data. Partial means only some scored resources are encrypted.
Where does the data come from?
The site uses derived status and aggregate classification from RadioReference source records, with per-record links back to the source for verification.
How is the score calculated?
The grade score is ((fullyEncrypted + 0.5*partial)/total)*100 after excluding control, data, paging, link, LCN, and other non-voice rows.
Do you count trunked systems, not just agencies?
Yes. Most modern public-safety encryption lives on trunked radio systems (talkgroups), not conventional agency frequencies. County and state grades combine both the agencies in an area and the trunked systems serving it. The national headline is weighted by individual public-safety voice channels (conventional + trunked), which is why it differs from a simple count of agencies.