Ronnie McCallion is an avid listener of the police scanners and has started several Facebook groups dedicated to listening to them. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot)

VIRGINIA BEACH — Every time she left her house over the past three years, Christina Smith would check Facebook to see if it’s safe where she’s headed.

While she was out, she’d check Facebook to see if there’s any danger in the surrounding area, or in the areas where her children and husband are.

Smith, 47, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the 2019 mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center that killed 12 people and injured four.

To ease her anxiety when venturing out into public, Smith has relied on a Facebook group called “VB Police Scanner Conversation.” It’s one of several groups that stays abreast of police activity by monitoring police radio channels and posting about notable incidents.

“I’ve been using it faithfully for the past three years so that I can leave my house with at least a little sense of security,” Smith said.

But as of last week, she can no longer monitor the police radio activity. No one can.

The Virginia Beach Police Department began encrypting its radio traffic Thursday, meaning its officers’ communication on police radios is no longer public.

It’s happening across the country. Smart phone apps have made police scanner traffic more accessible than ever, stoking concerns in the law enforcement community about officer safety and the transmission of sensitive information. Encryption means some of the scanner groups that keep tabs on police officers’ whereabouts are now mourning the loss of a community resource and decrying what they consider a lack of transparency.

“They’re doing this for officer safety first and foremost, and I get that,” said P.J. Saston, who started the former “VB Police Scanner Conversation” group in November 2018. “I understand that, it’s very important, but also I feel like there’s no transparency now.”

The trend of police departments nationwide encrypting their radio frequencies dates to at least the early 2000s, according to Adam Wandt, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and an expert in law enforcement communications.

Some do it out of a concern that criminals use scanners to stay one step ahead, or because there’s a risk of exposing personal information of victims and alleged criminals. Others do it to simply limit who can listen, Wandt explained.

Bank robbers and other more sophisticated criminals regularly use scanners to help them commit crimes, Wandt said, as do those who want to avoid DUI checkpoints.

Many police departments switch to harder-to-find tactical channels to discuss more sensitive matters, or officers will often call each other on cell phones.

Perhaps the biggest change is the proliferation of free apps on smartphones, which have changed the landscape of monitoring police communications. Most police departments’ radio frequencies are broadcast over the internet via these free apps, Wandt said, which makes protecting officers, victims of crimes and the accused, much more difficult.

“On it’s face, it’s not that different from having a radio frequency scanner, however, many more people have a smartphone than have a radio frequency scanner,” Wandt said.

Virginia Beach had been planning since 2018 to encrypt its police radio frequencies, but the project was delayed due to the pandemic.

In a statement Thursday, Virginia Beach police cited the same reasons that other agencies have in migrating to encrypted radio channels: officer safety and preventing the release of personal information.

“The need to secure police communications is of critical importance,” the department wrote.

The agency pointed to a Feb. 8 arrest of two individuals who allegedly attempted to break into a local Food Lion to steal a safe. Once in custody, the officers realized the suspects had been using a phone app to listen to officers discuss their response.

“Had these suspects been armed, this arrest could have ended in tragedy,” the department said.

The police also noted their mandate to protect the identity of sexual assault victims and juveniles involved crimes. Officers “routinely” transmit sensitive and personal identifying information about people on the radio to, for example, verify identities and check for arrest warrants, the statement read.

When asked for comment on Virginia Beach encrypting their radios, Lindsay Blanton, CEO and founder of Broadcastify, one of the most popular free scanner apps used by local residents, referred The Virginian-Pilot to his post on the forum RadioReference.com in which he was critical of the department’s decision to encrypt.

Blanton said the city and Police Chief Paul Neudigate “cherry picked reasons to reduce transparency.” He dismissed the department’s use of the Food Lion break-in as example of scanners creating more danger as a “non sequitur,” saying the scanners wouldn’t have added to the danger if the suspects were armed.

“First, the suspects were apprehended and it is responsible to conclude that since officers were already in the immediate vicinity when the call went out, if the subjects were armed and intended to use their weapons, the use of a police scanner in the commission of this crime would have had absolutely no effect as to the outcome of the incident, and never would have in the first place,” Blanton wrote.

He said it’s always been the company’s position that law enforcement’s “routine” dispatch channels shouldn’t be encrypted, but everything else should be. He added that Broadcastify’s terms of service have never allowed tactical or other sensitive channels to be broadcast.

Virginia Beach police maintained that the switch to encrypted lines will not affect the department’s commitment to “transparency and accountability,” because copies of radio transmissions can still be provided as required by state public records law.

The key difference, of course, is that the communications will no longer be available in real-time.

Wandt said he believes it’s a mistake “to lock everyone out” of listening to police radios, but doesn’t think the general public needs access. He suggested a compromise, in which members of the media are given total access, upon request, so they could continue to keep the public informed.

“Police departments are public agencies funded by public funds,” Wandt said. “Transparency is critical for both public safety and accountability.”

Radio frequencies for Norfolk, Newport News and Portsmouth police remain accessible to the public — and each have Facebook groups dedicated to listening in — while Hampton police have already encrypted their frequencies. A spokesperson for Chesapeake police said some of their frequencies are encrypted, but couldn’t confirm whether any were open.

Before encryption took effect, Virginia Beach scanner groups were brimming with posts from members who caught reports of criminal incidents over the scanner or described incidents they saw or heard.

The groups’ members listen for a range of reasons, from a desire for security to those who listen as a hobby. Some listen on their smartphones using free streaming apps such as Broadcastify while others use expensive police scanners.

Posts often included questions about why first responders are gathered in an area, or if anyone heard a call about gunshots in their neighborhood, while others shared general details of every-day police responses — and they’re often the first to know about incidents such the recent string of community college bomb threats in the region. Scanner group members keep their eyes peeled for stolen vehicles and persons of interest, and share any new information. In some cases, they’ve provided information that has led to the return of stolen property.

The local Facebook groups adhere to strict guidelines on sharing sensitive information about victims or police strategy, deleting posts that don’t comply and banning repeat offenders, based on interviews with moderators and long-time members of multiple popular groups.

The moderators of the groups take an explicitly pro-police stance, prohibiting any “bashing” of cops while still allowing for civil discussions of police wrongdoing.

Early on, members of Saston’s group made “baskets of gratitude” filled with snacks and drinks for Virginia Beach police, dispatchers and K-9 units. They also go out of their way to share police interactions that show the officers’ humanity, an effort to combat the negative perception that has been enflamed by viral videos of police brutality in recent years.

“We have a lot of respect for one another on the page even though we have difference of opinion,” said Ronnie McCallion, who started the “2021 VB Scanner Members Group” page on Facebook.

Ron McCallion sits for a portrait at his residence in Virginia Beach on July 29, 2022. McCallion is an avid listener of the police scanners and has started several Facebook groups dedicated to listening to them. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot)

McCallion said that he began listening to police scanners decades ago while working as a security guard for a Winn-Dixie in Florida. One day, he heard a report that there was a disturbed woman wielding a gun in a parking lot; it turned out to be outside his store. McCallion told the manager to lock the front door and get everyone to safety, but the manager didn’t believe him until he looked out and saw the woman.

“I want to know what gets to me before it shows up at my front door,” McCallion said.

But there’s cause for concern about the police radio Facebook groups, too, Wandt said. A recent University of Toronto study found evidence of negative consequences of apps that have similarities to the groups. The study concluded that the apps can “fuel anxiety and paranoia for some users,” making crimes feel “closer, more relevant and more immediate,” and can exacerbate the criminalization of marginalized groups.

Now that Virginia Beach has gone dark, many scanner listeners are wondering what comes next.

McCallion, who has lived in Virginia Beach since 1986, started his first police scanner Facebook group in Anchorage, Alaska, which had about 12,000 members before the city’s police department encrypted. Encryption caused his group to balloon to 64,000 as people were desperate for information, he said, and he expects a similar trend in Virginia Beach.

Saston had been planning to switch the focus of her Facebook group to fire department and EMS radio frequencies, which she thought would still be available after encryption took effect.

Virginia Beach police said in their announcement that firefighters and medics will be equipped with encrypted radios to be used “as needed,” so it’s unclear whether that’s an option for Saston. A spokesperson for the Virginia Beach Fire Department did not respond to a request for specifics on how encryption will affect public access to fire and EMS radio frequencies.

The “Virginia Beach EMS” channel on Broadcastify was online and broadcasting radio chatter as of Tuesday afternoon.

Saston has been among the most outspoken against the encryption of the radios, and lamented that neither she nor anyone else from the scanner-monitoring community went before the City Council to oppose the change before it happened.

Smith, the Virginia Beach mass shooting survivor, said she worked closely with six of the people who were killed, and had relationships outside of work with three of them. While she knows others who lived through the experience don’t rely on the police scanner the way she does, she said she has leaned on the Facebook group “like a crutch” to help her get out the door.

“Sometimes it is overwhelming and my daughter has even said that she thinks that I should not listen but for me, not knowing seems worse to me than the knowing,” she said.

But Smith has now lost her crutch, and she’s frustrated by the department’s decision.

“Myself and many others experienced something that no one should ever have to,” Smith said. “We saw, heard, smelt and felt things that day that forever changed our lives. Anything that can give any of us even just a little peace of mind should not be taken away.”

Gavin Stone, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com