Police Radio Encryption in California
California has an encryption rate of 10%. Out of 673 tracked public safety agencies, 27 are fully encrypted, 76 are partially encrypted, and 570 broadcast in the clear.
Agencies by Type
Encrypted & Partially Encrypted Agencies in California
- American Airlines (San Diego County) — Encrypted
- American Airlines - Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- California State University (Chico) (Butte County) — Encrypted
- Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Chapman University (Orange County) — Encrypted
- Culver City DMR System (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Disney Parks and Resorts (800Mhz T3) (Orange County) — Encrypted
- Fire (Shasta County) — Encrypted
- Fontana Unified School District (San Bernardino County) — Encrypted
- Harrah's Northern California (Amador County) — Encrypted
- Hertz Car Rental (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Intel - Folsom Campus (Sacramento County) — Encrypted
- NASA Ames Research Center (Santa Clara County) — Encrypted
- Parks and Recreation (Santa Clara County) — Encrypted
- Placer Communications (DMR) (Yolo County) — Encrypted
- SIXT Rent-a-Car (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- San Diego County Detention Facilities (San Diego County) — Encrypted
- Signal Hill P25 (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Skywalker Ranch (Marin County) — Encrypted
- Snapchat (Brentwood) (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Snapchat (Santa Monica) (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Snapchat (Venice) (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- UC San Diego Medical Center (San Diego County) — Encrypted
- Unidentified UHF Tier-III DMR (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Walgreens Distribution Center (Yolo County) — Encrypted
- West LA VA Medical Center (Los Angeles County) — Encrypted
- Airports (Fresno County) — Partial
- Airports (Humboldt County) — Partial
- Airports (Imperial County) — Partial
- Airports (Orange County) — Partial
- Airports (Riverside County) — Partial
- Airports (Santa Barbara County) — Partial
- Amazon Studios (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Ambulance Services (Orange County) — Partial
- Arcadia (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Arizona Public Service Corporation (P25) (San Bernardino County) — Partial
- Arizona Wireless Integrated Network System (AZ WINS) (San Bernardino County) — Partial
- Attractions (El Dorado County) — Partial
- Attractions (Stanislaus County) — Partial
- Attractions (Sutter County) — Partial
- Attractions (Tulare County) — Partial
- Baldwin Park Unified School District (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) P25 (Santa Clara County) — Partial
- Business (Butte County) — Partial
- Business (Solano County) — Partial
- Businesses (Del Norte County) — Partial
- Businesses (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Businesses (Sacramento County) — Partial
- Businesses (San Bernardino County) — Partial
- Businesses (Santa Barbara County) — Partial
- Businesses (Santa Clara County) — Partial
- Cal OES Public Safety Communications (Alameda County) — Partial
- California Highway Patrol - Southern Division (Alameda County) — Partial
- California Highway Patrol - Valley Division (Alameda County) — Partial
- Central Regional Interoperability Communication System (Central RICS) (Santa Barbara County) — Partial
- Chevron Kern River Oil Field (New) (Kern County) — Partial
- Chico (Butte County) — Partial
- Communications Innovations (NXDN) (Ventura County) — Partial
- Countywide Coordinated Communications System (CCCS) (P25) (Orange County) — Partial
- East Bay Regional Communications System (EBRCS) (Solano County) — Partial
- Federal (Alameda County) — Partial
- Federal (Santa Clara County) — Partial
- Fire (Tuolumne County) — Partial
- Hermosa Beach (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Homeowner's Associations (Lake County) — Partial
- Long Beach (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Los Angeles Countywide Integrated Radio System (CWIRS) (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Los Angeles Unified School District (P25) (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Malls/Retail (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Malls/Shopping/Retail (Orange County) — Partial
- McDermott Communications (Orange County) — Partial
- Miscellaneous (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Mobile Relay Associates Diga-Talk Network (Ventura County) — Partial
- Monterey County (Monterey County) — Partial
- National Science and Technology Network (Sierra Peak 1) (Riverside County) — Partial
- Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (San Bernardino County) — Partial
- Nevada Shared Radio System (Plumas County) — Partial
- Placer Interoperable Radio Communications System (PIRCS) (Placer County) — Partial
- Redding P25 (Shasta County) — Partial
- Retail (Ventura County) — Partial
- Roseville (Placer County) — Partial
- Sacramento Regional Radio Communications System (SRRCS) P25 (Yolo County) — Partial
- San Diego City 800MHz (San Diego County) — Partial
- San Diego-Imperial County RCS NextGen (San Diego County) — Partial
- San Francisco County/City P25 (Tuolumne County) — Partial
- Santa Rosa (Sonoma County) — Partial
- Security (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Shopping Centers (Santa Cruz County) — Partial
- Silicon Valley Regional Communications System (SVRCS) (Santa Clara County) — Partial
- Stanislaus Regional 911 (Stanislaus County) — Partial
- Sutter Buttes Communications UHF (Sutter County) — Partial
- US Marine Corps Installations West (MCI-West) (San Diego County) — Partial
- University of California (Santa Barbara) (Santa Barbara County) — Partial
- Utilities (Fresno County) — Partial
- Utilities (Placer County) — Partial
- Utilities (San Bernardino County) — Partial
- Utilities (San Joaquin County) — Partial
- Vernon (Los Angeles County) — Partial
- Waldorf Astoria Hotel Beverly Hills (Los Angeles County) — Partial
County Breakdown
58 counties tracked across California. 33 have at least one encrypted or partially encrypted agency.
View all 58 counties
| County | Agencies | Encrypted | Partial | Clear | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
| Santa Barbara County | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 33% |
| Amador County | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33% |
| Marin County | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33% |
| Yolo County | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 25% |
| Del Norte County | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25% |
| Imperial County | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25% |
| Shasta County | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 21% |
| Placer County | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 19% |
| Santa Clara County | 24 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 17% |
| Butte County | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 17% |
| Ventura County | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 15% |
| Los Angeles County | 151 | 12 | 16 | 123 | 13% |
| San Bernardino County | 27 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 13% |
| Orange County | 35 | 2 | 5 | 28 | 13% |
| Plumas County | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13% |
| Fresno County | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11% |
| Solano County | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10% |
| Sutter County | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10% |
| Monterey County | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10% |
| Santa Cruz County | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10% |
| San Diego County | 47 | 3 | 3 | 41 | 10% |
| Lake County | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8% |
| Tuolumne County | 13 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 8% |
| Sacramento County | 20 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 8% |
| Alameda County | 28 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 7% |
| Stanislaus County | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7% |
| Tulare County | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7% |
| El Dorado County | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6% |
| San Joaquin County | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6% |
| Sonoma County | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5% |
| Riverside County | 29 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 3% |
| Kern County | 15 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3% |
| Contra Costa County | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0% |
| San Francisco County | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0% |
| San Mateo County | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0% |
| Yuba County | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0% |
| Nevada County | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0% |
| Alpine County | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| Calaveras County | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| Glenn County | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| Mariposa County | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| Merced County | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| Mono County | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| Napa County | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| Lassen County | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| Mendocino County | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| Tehama County | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| Colusa County | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| Sierra County | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| Trinity County | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| Inyo County | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Kings County | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Madera County | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Modoc County | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| San Benito County | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| San Luis Obispo County | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Siskiyou County | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
What This Means for California Residents
California has a relatively low encryption rate of 10%. The majority of public safety agencies (570 out of 673) still broadcast in the clear, meaning scanner listeners and journalists retain access to most emergency radio traffic.
Encryption status can change at any time as agencies upgrade equipment or adopt new policies. The RTDNA considers police radio encryption the #1 threat to journalism in America. Use our search tool to check specific cities and counties in California.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is police radio encrypted in California?
In California, 27 out of 673 tracked public safety agencies use fully encrypted radio, and 76 use partial encryption. The overall encryption rate is 10%. Use the search tool on the homepage to check specific cities and counties.
Can I listen to police scanners in California?
Yes — 570 agencies in California still broadcast in the clear and can be monitored with a scanner. Check specific agencies using our search tool for detailed channel information.
How often is California data updated?
Data for California is synchronized weekly from RadioReference.com. Encryption status reflects the latest known radio configurations, though agencies can change their setup without notice. Report incorrect data.
Search all 673 agencies in California →
States with Similar Encryption Rates
Connecticut (10%) · Nevada (10%) · South Carolina (10%) · Montana (10%) · Nebraska (10%)
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