Oak Park's Civic Information Systems Commission took up the question of public access to police dispatch audio at its Aug. 20 meeting, revisiting a recommendation it sent to the Village Board more than two years ago.

The advisory panel, chaired by Josh Vanderberg, had the review of its June 13, 2024 recommendation on its meeting agenda along with a possible motion to prepare an updated memorandum to the Village Board outlining scope, authorship and a review timeline.

The review comes after Oak Park's police radio communications were encrypted in September 2025 as part of a digital upgrade, cutting off the real-time scanner access residents and journalists had relied on for years.

The commission's 2026 work plan, retitled from "Public Availability of Police Radio Communications" to "Emergency and Public Safety Communications," calls on the panel to "advocate for greater public transparency around emergency communication systems by revisiting feasible community access options that balance safety, privacy, and trust."

Commissioner Kurt Roskopf argued in an April 2023 op-ed in the Wednesday Journal for encrypting the STARCOM21 digital radio system while simultaneously providing a delayed public feed. He proposed a 10-minute delay that would "allow citizens to know what police and fire activity is happening in their neighborhood." Roskopf at the time hosted the Oak Park police and fire scanner feed on Broadcastify.com.

The scanner is now silent.

The specific terms of the commission's June 2024 recommendation to the Village Board have not been made public, including the proposed delay duration and delivery platform. Whether the board acted on that recommendation is also unclear.

@oakparkscanner: "Sorry, but submitting a FOIA request and waiting five days when you hear gunfire in your neighborhood isn't going to help. Oak Park citizens want to be able to monitor their public safety departments in near real-time."

The Oak Park Scanner account, which monitored police activity for the community, posted that message on June 21, 2024. By Sept. 11, 2025, the account confirmed the feed had gone dark: "Sadly we can't listen to the scanner anymore in Oak Park now that it is encrypted."

The commission also discussed planning for a "Day in Our Data" civic hackathon scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Dole Branch Library meeting room.

One vacancy now exists on the commission following Manning Peterson's resignation. Village staff liaisons to the panel are IT director Alvin Nepomuceno and chief communications officer Dan Yopchick.

The commission's next meeting is Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 123 Madison St.