St. Joseph Says Violent Crime Is Down. But Since the Police Scanner Went Silent, How Would We Know?
- Aug 11
- 6 min read
For years, when sirens raced through a St. Joseph neighborhood in the middle of the night, residents had a way to find out what was happening. Police scanner traffic offered the public and local media a real-time glimpse into shootings, pursuits, disturbances, robberies and other incidents unfolding throughout the city.
That changed in the summer of 2025 when the St. Joseph Police Department encrypted its radio communications, effectively eliminating public access to routine police scanner traffic.
Police officials offered legitimate reasons for the decision. Chief Paul Luster said encryption protects sensitive information, including tactical operations, officer locations, ongoing investigations and private information involving victims and residents. Police have also encountered suspects who were reportedly listening to scanner applications themselves, potentially allowing them to know where officers were headed and what information police had.
There is an understandable argument for keeping certain police communications away from criminals. Few people would argue that a suspect barricaded inside a house should be able to listen to officers discussing how they plan to enter it.
But St. Joseph's decision created another problem that deserves considerably more discussion: criminals weren't the only people who lost access. Everyone did.
The public lost a window into its own city
Residents listening to scanners weren't necessarily being nosy. For decades, police scanners have been used by journalists, neighborhood groups, business owners and ordinary citizens trying to understand what is happening around them.
If police were searching a neighborhood for an armed suspect, residents could hear it. If numerous officers suddenly descended on a particular street, local media could begin investigating. If shots were fired several blocks from someone's home, people could learn about the situation without waiting for the police department to decide whether it warranted a public announcement.
Today, St. Joseph residents are much more dependent on official sources, witnesses, social media posts and local news organizations learning about an incident after the fact.
Tuesday morning provided a good example.
Shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 11, St. Joseph police responded to multiple reports of gunfire around South 33rd Street between Mitchell Avenue and Duncan Street. Officers reportedly found numerous shell casings in the roadway, and two vehicles were reportedly seen leaving the area at a high rate of speed.
Fortunately, police initially said they did not believe anyone or anything had been struck.
Before encryption, scanner listeners might have heard that call unfold as officers were dispatched. Today, an incident like that can occur without much of St. Joseph knowing anything happened unless someone witnesses it, posts about it, contacts the media or authorities release the information.
That doesn't prove police are intentionally hiding incidents. But it does demonstrate just how much independent visibility the public lost when the radios went silent.
Then St. Joseph's violent crime numbers dropped dramatically
This is where the situation becomes particularly interesting.
Around the same period that residents lost access to police radio traffic, St. Joseph began reporting substantial improvements in violent crime.
Preliminary figures released by SJPD showed 209 Part I violent crimes in 2025, compared with 391 in 2024 and 401 in 2023. That's a remarkable decline and, if the numbers accurately reflect what is happening on St. Joseph's streets, something the entire community should celebrate.
More recently, the department reported violent crime declined another 17% from March to April 2026.
There is currently no evidence showing that SJPD encrypted its radios in order to conceal crime, nor is there evidence establishing that the department is intentionally manipulating its crime statistics. Those would be serious accusations and shouldn't be made without proof.
But residents are justified in asking questions.
When a government agency dramatically reduces the public's ability to independently observe its activity and then tells the public that conditions have dramatically improved, transparency becomes more important, not less.
If violent crime really has fallen significantly in St. Joseph, opening more of the underlying data to public scrutiny would strengthen the department's claim.
Crime statistics don't tell you everything happening outside your door
There is another important piece of this discussion that often gets overlooked.
Not every police call becomes a violent-crime statistic.
Tuesday's incident is a perfect example. Police can respond to multiple reports of gunfire and recover numerous shell casings without necessarily recording a violent offense such as aggravated assault if nobody was struck and investigators don't establish another qualifying crime.
The same can happen with disturbances, suspicious activity, weapons calls and other incidents.
Officers may respond, investigate and leave without the event ever appearing in the violent-crime numbers residents later see.
That doesn't mean the statistics are fraudulent. It means crime statistics and police activity measure different things.
It's entirely possible for residents to hear about repeated shootings and other dangerous incidents while official violent-crime statistics simultaneously decline. Understanding that distinction is important.
It is also one of the reasons public access to basic police activity has value.
Does every police transmission really need to be secret?
There should be room for compromise.
Tactical channels should obviously be protected. SWAT operations, undercover investigations, officers' tactical positions and sensitive personal information shouldn't be broadcast across the internet for criminals to hear.
But routine dispatch traffic is another question.
The choice doesn't necessarily have to be between broadcasting everything and allowing the public to hear nothing.
In fact, completely eliminating scanner access creates its own unintended consequence: rumors.
When residents see 10 police cars racing toward a neighborhood but can't determine what's happening, speculation fills the information vacuum. Someone posts that there was a shooting. Someone else says there are three victims. Another person claims there's an active shooter.
Within minutes, inaccurate information can spread across social media because the reliable real-time source people previously used to verify some of those claims is gone.
Encryption may protect information, but it can also create an environment where misinformation thrives.
Public safety should include the public
There is also a philosophical question St. Joseph should be willing to discuss.
Who does public-safety information belong to?
Police departments are public institutions. Their officers are paid by taxpayers, their equipment is purchased with public money and their authority comes from the communities they serve.
Obviously, that doesn't mean citizens are entitled to every piece of information during an active investigation.
But there should be a strong presumption toward transparency whenever releasing information doesn't create a legitimate danger.
Residents have an interest in knowing when gunfire is occurring in their neighborhoods. Parents have an interest in knowing whether police are searching nearby for someone considered dangerous. Business owners have an interest in knowing whether a serious incident is unfolding several blocks away.
Those aren't unreasonable demands.
The argument for encryption is that criminals shouldn't be able to use police communications against officers. That's valid.
But complete encryption also prevents law-abiding residents from using that same information to protect themselves.
Trust shouldn't require blind faith
Ultimately, this isn't about whether someone supports or opposes the St. Joseph Police Department.
It's about accountability.
SJPD says violent crime has fallen dramatically. Hopefully, it has. A city experiencing roughly half as many serious violent crimes as it did two years earlier would be an enormous accomplishment and something officers and residents alike should be proud of.
But residents shouldn't simply be told to trust any government agency without the ability to examine what is happening for themselves.
Before encryption, police radio traffic gave St. Joseph another independent window into the activity occurring throughout the city. It wasn't perfect. Scanner traffic could be misunderstood, calls could turn out to be unfounded and hearing something dispatched didn't necessarily mean a crime had occurred.
But it was a window. That window is now closed.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph residents continue hearing about shootings, shots-fired calls, homes being struck by bullets and other serious incidents while simultaneously being told violent crime is declining substantially.
Those two realities aren't necessarily contradictory. But they are more than enough reason to ask questions.
If St. Joseph really is becoming safer, the city should want residents to see the evidence. Release detailed monthly crime statistics. Make calls-for-service data readily accessible. Show residents how many shots-fired, weapons and assault calls officers respond to each month. Explain exactly how incidents are classified and which offenses ultimately become part of the violent-crime statistics.
Transparency shouldn't be viewed as an attack on law enforcement.
It should be one of the strongest tools available for building trust between police and the people they're sworn to protect.
Police officers deserve to operate without criminals listening to their tactical movements in real time. Crime victims deserve privacy. Investigators deserve the ability to conduct sensitive operations without broadcasting their plans.
But the citizens of St. Joseph deserve something, too.
They deserve to know what's happening in their own city.
B******* it's all b*******B*******, all you have to do is drive around this town. And see crime is not down. When you see it with your own two eyes.