The New York State Assembly has passed a revised bill that would give credentialed journalists real-time access to encrypted police radio transmissions across the state, with one big carve-out: it does not cover the NYPD. The vote, first reported by AMNY, is the legislature’s second run at the idea in as many years after Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a broader version last December.
The bill would require any law enforcement agency in New York that encrypts its radio communications to let those channels be monitored in real time by professional journalists, newscasters and people employed by emergency services organizations, according to the legislation. Sensitive information is exempt. Who counts as a journalist is set by a tightened version of the state Shield Law, and news organizations that want access have to carry liability insurance. Freelancers would have to route their work through those insured outlets. Bloggers and influencers are not included.
Police scanners went dark when departments around the state switched to full encryption, cutting off the open channels that newsrooms had monitored since the 1930s. The NYPD switched to full encryption two years ago, except for one city-wide channel and its transit divisions.
Assemblywoman Reyes, who sponsored the bill, said the new version is far narrower than the one Hochul rejected. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought, last year was much tougher,” Reyes said. She said lawmakers went concern by concern through the governor’s veto memo. Cost was one of them. She said media organizations, not taxpayers, would foot the bill.
“We addressed all the concerns of the governor and we outlined that with the governor’s memo and showed why that wasn’t the case,” Reyes said. “Every media organization must have libel insurance, and that assures that we are dealing with legitimate outlets. We also addressed the privacy and sensitive information issues by showing that professional officers will know when to use an encrypted channel. We feel we covered this and allayed many of the fears that people had.”
Hochul’s veto last December called the goal worthy but questioned whether the earlier bill was “technologically feasible,” pointing to the requirement that local agencies screen out sensitive information in real time. Her memo also warned about “growing threats of extremist violence” if real-time police movements were disclosed to “bloggers and paparazzi,” and raised concerns about exposing undercover operations and confidential sources.
The revised bill uses exemptions. Sensitive information, undercover operations and the movements of government officials would stay encrypted. The New York Department of State would write the regulations and penalties for abusing police information, and those penalties could include confiscation or a remote shut-off of a radio by law enforcement.
The NYPD is exempt. It is already governed by a separate city law. Intro 1460-2025, sponsored by Manhattan City Council Member Gale Brewer and passed last year, requires the department to produce a plan by July 16 for granting media access to its radio in New York City. Media leaders told AMNY the plan got more complicated after the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment issued press cards to influencers who showed up at a court hearing for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, wearing shirts and holding signs supporting him. NYPD officials have privately said they don’t trust some MOME cardholders because they don’t believe those people were adequately vetted.
In May, representatives of the New York Media Consortium, a group of 14 local, state and national press organizations, met with the NYPD about the looming deadline. Department officials said they would “obey the law” but couldn’t give specifics until they talked to commanders across the city’s commands, and the consortium’s request for a follow-up meeting has gone unanswered. The NYPD had no comment as of AMNY’s publication, and the office of Mayor Zohran Mamdani had not commented on the story.
Press groups lined up behind the Assembly vote and turned their attention to the state Senate, which has not yet passed its version. Bruce Cotler, president of the New York Press Photographers Association, applauded the bill but said he is “cautiously awaiting the NYPD plan for implementation of the city law.”
“It is important that news organizations get real-time breaking news for the good of public safety and the public’s right to know, the state legislature has recognized that two years in a row,” Cotler said. “We trust that the NYPD will follow the law and put forth a plan that will satisfy the law’s intent and provide real-time radio access to credentialed, qualified media who require this information to keep the public informed.”
Mickey Osterriecher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, called on the Senate to move next. “We now urge the New York State Senate to approve the measure and send it to the Governor for her consideration,” he said.
Diane Kennedy, president of the New York News Publishers Association, credited Reyes for the fight. “The legislation provides law enforcement agencies broad authority to shield information that could create a safety risk or a risk to personal privacy, while providing communities with the news reporting they need,” she said.
David A. Andelman, president of the Deadline Club, the New York City chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, credited Reyes and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris for what he called their “tenacious, three-time sponsorship” of the measure. “We hope the new version of the bill addresses the governor’s concern, and that the New York Police Department heeds its City Council-mandated deadline next month of issuing a plan to grant the press access to its encrypted radio transmissions,” Andelman said.
If the Senate passes the bill and Hochul signs it by December, police departments would have 180 days to comply.
