The Oakland Police Department is cutting the public off from its live radio feeds. Bay Area News Group reports the OPD is moving all of its scanner feeds to private, encrypted channels. That means the public won’t be able to monitor public police scanners.
Numerous Bay Area cities have already made such a switch. OPD officials say the move is being made to protect the safety of the department and its officers, but critics say such a move will take away a major way to hold police officers accountable for their actions.