Does Colorado law bar police from encrypting communications?

Despite recent efforts by Colorado lawmakers to limit the use of encrypted communications by police agencies, the state has not banned the practice. 

State legislation introduced in 2018 and 2019 sought to limit encrypted communications by law enforcement, but the measures did not become law. A failed bill from 2018 would have required radio dispatch communications to be broadcast without encryption, except when tactically necessary or during criminal investigations. 

A police accountability law that passed in 2021 requires government agencies that use encrypted radio communications to allow access to a decrypted version of the radio traffic at the public’s request. 

Messages in encrypted apps, such as Signal, can have auto-delete functions, and frequently go undisclosed in public records requests. Michigan has banned messaging apps on state government devices that would exclude communications from public records requests.

The Associated Press found over 1,000 accounts on encrypted platforms tied to government-issued cellphones across the nation.