Stolen Walkie

[stewill]

Hey Im wondering if there are any stories of stolen radios and things that have been said or done with a stolen raidio...in my dept. we had a radio stolen from an off duty officers car and he was putting out 'Officer down" calls thru out the entire city for almost 3 days before the the guy stopped and thats only because the battery probbably went dead.

[bucksone]

I know with our current walkies (Motorola XTS50000) and our previous walkies (MTS2000), if one was lost or stolen, it could be deactivated through the computer so it wouldn't work.

[stewill]

is that dept... CPD. by chance?

[bucksone]

Nope. A lot smaller and directly north of CPD Car 32's district.

[luckydog]

I know with our current walkies (Motorola XTS50000) and our previous walkies (MTS2000), if one was lost or stolen, it could be deactivated through the computer so it wouldn't work.

same here, just have the thing deactivated. also you can't listen us with a scaner.

[Chit2001]

also you can't listen us with a scaner.

Why would that be?

The only reason I ask is because, until recently, I was under the impression that folks couldn't scan digital frequencies...... until I was taught differently. I learned that all the media here can scan us with digital scanners and many civilians also have these. They cost a bunch more than the old analog equipment, but it's still easy to scan.

Or was there a different reason they can't listen in to your guys' freq?

[hxd]

Why would that be?

The only reason I ask is because, until recently, I was under the impression that folks couldn't scan digital frequencies...... until I was taught differently. I learned that all the media here can scan us with digital scanners and many civilians also have these. They cost a bunch more than the old analog equipment, but it's still easy to scan.

A LOT of people have been snowed by that thought process. There are some digital formats that are scannable, and some that are not. IDEN (think Nextel and SouthernLinc) can not be monitored with the average "off teh shelf" scanner. Neither can OpenSky (GE/MaCom), MotoTrbo, or the older Motorola VSELP digital formats. IMBE (P25) digital can be monitored.

Here's the rub: The non-scannable formats are proprietary. That means you are (almost always) locked into using that manufacturer's equipment, at a cost dictated by that manufacturer. You can only use GE radios on an OpenSky system and Motorola radios on a MotoTrbo system. The "scannable" formats all adhere to a common standard, and you can use other manufacturers' equipment. Don't like the Motorola radios you have for your P25 system? You can go to Vertex of EF Johnson.

Or was there a different reason they can't listen in to your guys' freq?

Florida has a statewide trunked radio system for LE use. Most of the talkgroups are encrypted full-time.

[MrJim911]

We can also turn the officers portables into "bricks" if they are stolen/lost.

[nogginbuster24]

wouldn't you get in trouble for losing your walkie talkie.

[Fuzz]

We had one of our senior volunteers leave their radio at the grocery store. It was pretty funny hearing the bag boy come up on the air saying " helllo.....hellooooo......somebody left a radio here...can you here me".

[Contact]

wouldn't you get in trouble for losing your walkie talkie.

Well sure you would but what if it wasn't lost, what if it were forcibly taken?

[Sharp]

Well sure you would but what if it wasn't lost, what if it were forcibly taken?

Who would forcibly take a walkie talkie?

Especially from an LEO.

[AvalancheZ71]

Why would that be?

The only reason I ask is because, until recently, I was under the impression that folks couldn't scan digital frequencies...... until I was taught differently. I learned that all the media here can scan us with digital scanners and many civilians also have these. They cost a bunch more than the old analog equipment, but it's still easy to scan.

Or was there a different reason they can't listen in to your guys' freq?

I think he is speaking of JSO (Jacksonville Sheriff's Office) FL. That system is an APCO-25 system, however, the law enforcement talkgroups are encrypted. The same is true of Orange County, CA as well. The State of Florida's SLERS system is not a APCO-25 digital system, therefore digital scanners cannot decode the signals. If they were to obtain a radio that can pick up Provoice, they would still be out of luck as the SLERS system is encrypted.

[Jim1648]

Stolen Walkie

We had this joker in the Burnsville MN area several years back.

http://urgentcomm.com/mag/radio_hackers_pose_rare/

http://www.channel4000.com/news/1417560/detail.html?tml=msp_7am&ts=T&tmi=msp_7am_3381_07000104252002

Usually when people that don't normally use our channels get on the radio they "stick out like a sore thumb" so-to-speak. I remember several years back a civilian got on the Minnesota State Patrol District 2400 Saint Paul repeater saying that a trooper had just been struck by a vehicle. That is one of the radio broadcasts where I think the hairs on the back of my neck may have stood up.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=mn&vol=appunpub%5C9610%5C433&invol=1

[L-1]

The State of California runs a statewide analog radio system for use by the many small state law enforcement agencies that cannot afford their own dispatch centers. Once in a while some investigator's kid will sneak a walkie talkie out of his dad's briefcase and go crazy with it for an evening. One kid stayed on the air for a couple of hours one night claiming he had a bomb in his car and was going to blow up a gas station in South Central Los Angeles.

Occasionally hackers have figured out the repeater offsets and PL codes to break into the system with programmable walkie talkies. They have run vehicles, put out phony help calls and in one instance, claimed they were responding to an officer needs assistance call. During the Rodney King riots, one hacker put out a lot of fake help calls. While he kept changing agency designators, he tripped himself up by repeatedly using the same numerical identifier.

The system was first built in 1974, before automatic identifiers were invented, so it is impossible to lock a radio out or identify an unauthorized one. The various state agencies have so much money invested in their existing radio equipment that no one will even consider switching to a secure, digital system.