Tucson PD Goes Fully Encrypted: Arizona Scanners Go Dark
On Monday, April 13, 2026, the Tucson Police Department — the largest law enforcement agency in Southern Arizona — encrypted all of its radio communications, taking Tucson police dispatch off public scanners for the first time in the department's history. TPD is now fully dark on P25, the latest and largest Arizona agency to lock out scanner listeners (KGUN9).
Why Tucson Police Encrypted Dispatch
Tucson police encryption didn't start as a transparency decision. According to the city's official encryption FAQ, the encryption arrived built into new Motorola APX NEXT radios the department bought because the vendor stopped supporting its roughly 15-year-old fleet. When the old radios reached end-of-life, the replacement hardware shipped with full-time encryption enabled.
The Dashboard Replacing Live Audio
TPD replaced live listening with a public Power BI "Real Time Event Tracker" dashboard. The tracker shows call types, priority levels, and general locations, refreshed every 30 minutes — a delayed, summarized picture instead of real-time audio. The city says interop channels remain unencrypted, and radio recordings stay available through public-records requests (KVOA).
'You're Just in the Dark': Scanner-Community Reaction
For longtime listeners, the switch was a hard blow. Scanner groups that tracked Tucson dispatch for years saw their primary source of live traffic vanish overnight.
"I've been relying on this information and now, you're just in the dark." — Priscilla Castillo, scanner group moderator, to KGUN9
Arizona's Encryption Wave
Tucson had never been encrypted before. Its neighbors already were: Phoenix and Mesa had both gone dark, according to KJZZ. With Southern Arizona's largest agency now encrypted, essentially all of Arizona's major metro dispatch is closed to scanners — part of the national trend we break down in Police Scanner Encryption Explained: What You Can Still Hear in 2026.
What You Can Still Hear in Southern Arizona
Encrypted primary dispatch doesn't mean total silence. Interop and tactical channels remain open, fire and EMS agencies on the same system may still broadcast in the clear, and smaller departments across the region continue to transmit unencrypted. A Baofeng UV-5R Plus police scanner, pre-programmed to your zip code, will still pull in those open channels — and the Real Time Event Tracker gives you a delayed look at what TPD is handling even while the audio stays dark.
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FAQ
When did Tucson PD go fully encrypted?
Monday, April 13, 2026, when all TPD radio communications were encrypted.
Can I still listen to Tucson police on a scanner?
Not to primary dispatch — it's fully encrypted. Interop channels remain unencrypted, and radio recordings are available through public-records requests.
What is the Real Time Event Tracker dashboard?
A public Power BI dashboard showing call types, priority levels, and general locations, refreshed every 30 minutes.
Why did Tucson PD encrypt?
The department replaced its roughly 15-year-old radios with Motorola APX NEXT units after the vendor stopped supporting the old fleet; encryption is built into the new hardware.
Were Phoenix and Mesa already encrypted?
Yes — both had already gone dark before Tucson, per KJZZ.
Bottom line: Tucson is the latest — and largest — Arizona agency to go fully dark, but listeners aren't left with nothing. The dashboard, public-records requests, and still-open interop channels keep you informed without live audio, and a pre-programmed scanner keeps you hearing the agencies that haven't encrypted yet.
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