NYPD pulls plug on press, public for Brooklyn precinct radios — and the entire city could follow soon

By Todd Maisel

Posted on July 25, 2023

For nearly a century, the New York press and the public have had access to police frequencies, learning about breaking news throughout the five boroughs through scanner radios.

But that era of transparency, dating back to 1932, seems to be reaching the end, as six NYPD precinct radio frequencies serving northern Brooklyn suddenly went dark on July 17 — the officers’ radios being converted to “encrypted” channels that shut the public out of police communications.