The radio scanners were vital tools of Robinson’s trade, tipping her off to police activities throughout the Denver metro area — information she corroborated by making those countless calls to her many, many sources. But they wouldn’t be so useful if Robinson were still reporting today.
A Colorado law that went into effect in 2021 sets a timetable for the public release of law enforcement body-worn camera footage of incidents “in which there is a complaint of peace officer misconduct.” But if an officer shoots and kills someone, and no one formally complains, does the footage-release provision apply?
But a year after House Bill 21-1250 was signed into law, reporters still can’t tune into Denver and Aurora police radio transmissions like they did before both agencies blocked public access — Denver in 2019 and Aurora three years earlier. Although each department has a written policy on radio access, neither has reached an agreement with any Denver metro news organizations.
One change will impact the release of body-worn and dashboard camera footage, and another might help mitigate the loss of public information caused by the encryption of police radio transmissions. Two additional provisions address public access to records of completed police internal affairs investigations and lists of officers who have credibility issues.
State representatives inserted a provision addressing police radio encryption into a law-enforcement accountability measure that builds on the major police reform bill passed in 2020.
Journalists know they may find themselves in harm’s way when they cover volatile events such as the demonstrations we have seen in Denver over the past several days. But it is inexcusable – and a violation of the journalists’ constitutional rights – for law enforcement officers to single them out for attack simply for doing their jobs in chronicling these events.
The death of a House bill likely means the continuation of a trend among Colorado law enforcement agencies to encrypt all of their radio traffic.
