Listening to Boston police radio transmissions over old-school scanner equipment will soon yield nothing but dead air.
The Boston Police Department said Wednesday that it will convert its analog radio system to a “digital encrypted” system on Saturday.
“This means that Boston Police radio transmissions will no longer be available via traditional analog radio scanning equipment,” the police department said in a social media post.
Officials said a publicly accessible Boston police radio feed will be made available online at radio.rapidsos.com/boston.
The department said the change will give police better communication abilities, cut down on background noise and static, and prevent “bad actors” from monitoring and interfering with police activity.
The new radio system will be “delayed slightly to prioritize public and officers safety,” the department said.
“It will help ensure first responders are the first to arrive on what may be a dangerous scene and that perpetrators will not be alerted to officers’ activity,” the police department said.
The statement did not specifically say how much time the audio will be delayed.
Messages were sent to the police department seeking further information about the new system.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
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