Gov. Hochul vetoes bill giving journalists access to police radio transmissions
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday vetoed a bill backed by the Deadline Club and its press-rights allies that would have granted journalists across the state real-time access to encrypted police radio transmissions, a day after the New York City Council voted to reopen the NYPD’s blacked-out airways for credentialed media.
Hochul’s veto, one of dozens she issued shortly before a midnight deadline after which it would become law, leaves police agencies in the state free to use technology to bar the press and the public from their radio dispatches and banter, a vital source of news tips that had been unimpeded for 90 years.
So far, Nassau County has blacked out its law enforcement radios to the press, while the New York Police Department has encrypted most of its channels, mirroring a nationwide trend with mixed results on press access.
The Deadline Club and other press groups, operating jointly as the New York Media Consortium, had backed the “keep police radio public act” sponsored by Senator Mike Gianaris of Queens and Assembly Member Karines Reyes of the Bronx, both Democrats, which both legislative chambers passed in June.
Keeping police channels open to journalists benefits public safety, Consortium members told Hochul in a letter last month, by enabling news organizations to quickly alert readers, viewers and listeners to dangers that erupt in their neighborhoods.
But in a statement accompanying her veto, Hochul, who is preparing her re-election bid next year, made claims that in some cases appeared to be contradicted by the bill’s language. Among them were that its “sensitive information” exemption was too narrow and would give the press access to undercover officer communications even, though it explicitly bars disclosures of confidential information relating to criminal investigations or the identity of confidential sources.
She also said, without providing evidence, that the bill would require police agencies to disclose the whereabouts of public officials.
“Governor Hochul’s justifications for vetoing this bill read like they were crafted by law enforcement lobbyists,”said Deadline Club President David A. Andelman. “It’s regrettable that she chose to put politics over public safety and the public’s right to know.”
In New York City, meanwhile, the City Council on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a measure that requires the NYPD to devise a policy that leaves its citywide channel for reporting “critical incidents” unencrypted and gives paid journalists with city-issued press credentials access to encrypted broadcasts, except those with sensitive information.
But the bill, which was introduced last month, two years after a hearing at which Consortium members called for legislation to halt the NYPD’s incremental encryption, comes with a steep price tag. It would require news outlets to spend several thousand dollars for the receivers needed to listen to the encrypted broadcasts.
After a meeting with NYPD officials nearly three years ago, Consortium members suggested a low-cost, internet-based alternative for encryption and press access, which the NYPD, the country’s largest police force, chose not to use.
The City Council bill, which is awaiting action by Mayor Eric Adams, could take up to a year to be implemented if Adams allows it to become law.
CONTACT: Peter Szekely. info@deadlineclub.org
TEXT OF KEEP POLICE RADIO PUBLIC ACT VETOED BY GOV. HOCHUL
* * *
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3516
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 28, 2025
Introduced by M. of A. REYES, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, CHANDLER-WATERMAN,
CUNNINGHAM, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, SHIMSKY — read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the “keep
police radio public act”
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “keep
police radio public act”.
§ 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 222-a to
read as follows:
§ 222-A. LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNICATIONS PUBLIC ACCESS. 1. FOR THE
PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING
MEANINGS:
(A) “EMERGENCY SERVICES ORGANIZATION” MEANS A PUBLIC OR PRIVATE AGEN-
CY, VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION OR GROUP ORGANIZED AND FUNCTIONING FOR THE
PURPOSE OF PROVIDING FIRE, MEDICAL, AMBULANCE, RESCUE, HOUSING, FOOD OR
OTHER SERVICES DIRECTED TOWARD RELIEVING HUMAN SUFFERING, INJURY OR LOSS
OF LIFE OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AS A RESULT OF AN EMERGENCY, INCLUDING
NON-PROFIT AND GOVERNMENTALLY-SUPPORTED ORGANIZATIONS, BUT EXCLUDING
GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES.
(B) “ENCRYPTION” MEANS THE ENCODING OF VOICE COMMUNICATION ON AN
ANALOG OR DIGITALLY MODULATED RADIO CARRIER, WHICH RENDERS THE COMMUNI-
CATION DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE TO BE MONITORED BY COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE
RADIO RECEIVERS OR SCANNERS.
(C) “LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY” MEANS ANY AGENCY OR DEPARTMENT OF ANY
MUNICIPALITY, ANY POLICE DISTRICT, OR ANY AGENCY, DEPARTMENT, COMMIS-
SION, AUTHORITY OR PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
EMPLOYING A POLICE OFFICER OR POLICE OFFICERS AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN
SUBDIVISION THIRTY-FOUR OF SECTION 1.20 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW.
EXPLANATION–Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00736-01-5
A. 3516 2
(D) “RADIO COMMUNICATIONS” MEANS VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS THAT ARE BROAD-
CAST OVER A RADIO FREQUENCY EITHER FROM A DISPATCH CENTER TO FIELD
PERSONNEL, FROM FIELD PERSONNEL TO A DISPATCH CENTER, OR BETWEEN FIELD
PERSONNEL, AND ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL PERSONNEL MONITORING THAT FREQUEN-
CY. “RADIO COMMUNICATIONS” DOES NOT INCLUDE PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS
BETWEEN TWO DEVICES, SUCH AS A CELLULAR TELEPHONE, OR THE TRANSMITTAL OF
DATA TO OR FROM A MOBILE DATA TERMINAL, TABLET, TEXT MESSAGING DEVICE,
OR SIMILAR DEVICE.
(E) “SENSITIVE INFORMATION” MEANS ANY PORTION OF A RADIO COMMUNICATION
THAT, IF DISCLOSED, WOULD:
I. DEPRIVE A PERSON OF A RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL OR IMPARTIAL ADJUDI-
CATION;
II. IDENTIFY A CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE OR DISCLOSE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA-
TION RELATING TO A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION; AND
III. REVEAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES, EXCEPT
ROUTINE TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES.
2. ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IN THE STATE THAT ENCRYPTS ANY PORTION
OF ITS RADIO COMMUNICATIONS SHALL ENSURE THAT ALL RADIO COMMUNICATIONS,
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION, ARE ACCESSIBLE, IN REAL
TIME, TO EMERGENCY SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS
AS DEFINED IN SECTION SEVENTY-NINE-H OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS LAW. IN THE
EVENT THAT A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY DOES ENCRYPT RADIO COMMUNICATIONS
PURSUANT TO THIS SUBDIVISION, THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE SHALL, FOR THE
PURPOSE OF VERIFYING CREDENTIALS, ESTABLISH AND ADMINISTER A PROCESS FOR
GRANTING REAL-TIME ACCESS TO RADIO COMMUNICATIONS TO EMERGENCY SERVICES
ORGANIZATIONS AND TO PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS. SUCH A PROCESS FOR
GRANTING ACCESS SHALL TAKE NO MORE THAN FIVE BUSINESS DAYS TO COMPLETE.
3. THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE SHALL PROMULGATE RULES, REGULATIONS AND
STANDARDS DEEMED NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.
