“The Saskatoon Police Service says it is working to find alternate measures to provide access to information after removing media access to police scanner traffic,” CTV News reported on July 23.
“We do about 1,000 news releases a year, but we also are looking for other technologies, solutions to maybe allow media to see what’s going on without giving out some of that critical information that might breach privacy legislation,” Chief Troy Cooper told CTV News.
“It really doesn’t matter a lot what happens with it, it’s us that’s actually breaching the legislation by sharing that without authority.”
For years, newsrooms in the city have had access to police scanners, which meant they were able to hear when officers were dispatched, helping them to cover emergencies, including crashes, stand-offs, and other incidents involving police.
That access came to an end last March when the Information and Privacy Commissioner Ron Kruzeniski’s interpretation of provincial legislation found allowing media outlets to access to police scanners could breach privacy laws, disclosing people’s personal information.
More from the original news source here.
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