The Days of Listening to Police Scanners in Minnesota Are Ending

Until recent years, law enforcement, fire departments, and medical responders all used public airwaves to broadcast calls to first responders. Anyone with a radio scanner could listen in. But that’s rapidly changing, and not everyone is happy about it.

While the move toward encrypted police communications began in the 1990s and early 2000s, the trend has accelerated over the past five years. Now, more departments across Minnesota are taking their radio traffic behind an encryption wall.

The End of Open Airwaves in Minnesota

Supporters say the switch improves officer safety and protects private information about victims, suspects, witnesses, and minors. Many departments also cite compliance with new federal, state, and local regulations as a key reason for making the change.

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Critics argue that encryption reduces transparency by preventing the media and public from monitoring police activities in real time. Some agencies are experimenting with ways to balance privacy and accountability by offering delayed or limited public access to certain radio feeds.

Nearly 100 Minnesota Agencies Now Encrypted

According to RadioReference.com, nearly 100 agencies in Minnesota now use some form of encrypted communication, and that number continues to climb.

St. Paul is the latest major city to adopt encrypted radio, joining Minneapolis, Duluth, St. Cloud, and dozens of counties already using the technology. A popular YouTuber known as saveitforparts recently shared a video dismantling his once-active police scanner setup, which will soon be obsolete once the city fully encrypts its system. The airwaves are going quiet, and for many longtime listeners, that silence says a lot.