Keep Police Radio Public Act Veto Rationale
12/22/2025
Presented above is Kathy Hochul's rationale for vetoing the Keep Police Radio Public Act last Friday.
My Take
I'll be drip-dropping more pontification on this veto's reasoning as time goes on. There's a lot more to unpack but for now here are my first-take notes:
1. Concerns for privacy that she cites have not been an issue for decades upon decades. Remember, open broadcasting is the default, not a "move to" as the reasoning suggests. Yes of course open communications are exploitable but in those decades upon decades, mitigations to eliminate them in important matters have been successful.
2. At least the reasoning acknowledges the futility of distinguishing between the NY Times and BuffScan or your favorite scanner news coverage Facebook Group. In my opinion the attempt by selfish media sector groups to celebrate their sanctimonies exceptionalism instead of making this fight for the public, created a fatal flaw. Thanks for that MSM.
3. And finally, having this distraction in play removed, it re-asserts the actual mission. The unambiguous goal now is to firmly replace police scanning with something else.
So let's get busy.
By BuffScan for BuffScan.
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Governor Kathy Hochul Vetoes Openness Measure
12/20/2025
The Keep Police Radio Public Act has been VETOED by Governor Hochul.
While I sympathize that the Act (AB3516) was selfishly designed to benefit established profit media first, in BuffScan's opinion, it was still a measure of openness and transparency that would have in practice led to keeping open systems for all. BuffScan came to support the bill despite its flaw.
Therefore this is terrible news.
As we do not yet know the reasoning behind the veto, BuffScan defers criticizing the Governor at this time.
And too, this veto is a reminder that it is crucial to replace police scanning with something else. BuffScan will continue to report on and to advocate for just such a revolution.
By BuffScan for BuffScan.
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I Found the NYBSA Release
12/17/2025
We Don't Poop in the Water - Exempt Us
Those who keep tabs on BuffScan may recall that prior to my acceptance of the Keep Police Radio Public Act (Assembly Bill A3516), I decried the structure of public safety radio preservation in the act as being the product of a suspiciously selfish agenda by legacy media.
Doing some basic Googling, it seems I wasn't too far off the mark. The New York State Broadcasters Association implies by way of this release that it figured into the bill's evolution (note in the release this phraseology "Our next step is the Governor.").
Selfish because, if you're going to fight to keep public safety communication in the clear for just one group, why not do the obvious thing and make this about keeping everything public in the first place.
Or put another way, just like Senate Bill S416 had it before it was substituted by the currently-poised-to-become-law, A3516.
Keeping a push to keep radio traffic public is not only the obvious fight to have, it's, as I say, the likely practicing outcome, once it becomes clear there is no bullet-proof way to segment this type of action between people and so-called "professional" journalists. Unlike the issue of body armor the same group cites as an example of exempting media houses from something otherwise restricted. Body armor is material goods and can be held, pushed, and pulled back from someone.
Radio carrier, not so much.
The group seemed to put the energy of its cause behind the notion that there hasn't been any significant issue with journalists showing up at crime scenes.
...No New York law enforcement agency has provided any evidence that journalists have been a problem or pose a future problem to police officers...
...by that logic, I would challenge the group that anyone with a police scanner has ever, beyond nuisance, been more or less a "problem", either, whatever that inference is supposed to mean anyway.
Or, we can tackle this from the other side. Since when haven't journalists showing up at crime scenes not been considered a problem? Have we never heard of anything called the paparazzi? Is there not an entire body of ethical contemplation in journalism and media education precisely because they're always a potential problem?
People reporting truth or telling a story not meant to be told are always someone's problem. Just because a media house slaps a 60 second Subaru commercial over their brand of that problem doesn't "honorably distinguish". Rather it's quite perverse actually.
The reason for the difference between S416 and A3516 are forces striving to narrow access to a powerful now-premium encrypted rich information stream to themselves.
In bringing these words to you, I'm not walking back my newfound support for the imminent law. I'm simply pointing out that my crackpot theory over special interests tailoring a movement to their profit motivated brand of news collection ("professional journalists") is not exactly assuaged when lo and behold I do find such a group with its fingers so close to the scale.
Spotter Watch - Spotters on The Spot
Please note that links to spotter content may require additional login to respective social media platforms like Facebook or X.
- Buffalo Fire Department-Helmets & Hose Wagons went live on Facebook with the ceremonious inauguration of Buffalo's new Battalion Chief along with two new Lieutenants (details available on said feed).
** If you operate a digital place for the presentation of captured news and drama and would like to be regularly reviewed for BuffScan's "Spotters on the Spot", please let me know.
BuffScan Pokey Report
The following are fresh listings in the publicly distributed Erie County Jail Roster as of yesterday.
Booking Date 12/16/25- AMAYA-MARQUEZ, ESMELIN
- ANDINO, FRANCISCO
- BAXTER, JAMEL J
- CALABRESE, ANTHONY
- COOK, CLARENCE T
- ELDRIDGE, IEESHA
- FABRIZIO, DANIELLE B
- HARGE, DARRELL W
- HUBER, SCOTT
- HUFFMAN, DEJAUN
- JANCZYLIK, JUSTIN
- MCDANIEL, JAMEER
- OFFHAUS, SHAWN
- PLETL, KATIE
- PRIMERANO, ANTHONY S
- RIOS, ANTHONY L
- RODRIGUEZ, EMMANUEL D
- SEXTON, CHRISTOPHER
- WRIGHT, JAMES H
** In providing this convenient aggregate listing please keep in mind the following: Incarceration in county jail does not imply guilt - statistically, most inmates are in fact legally innocent and are only incarcerated pending further legal proceedings. As well, many circumstances including mental health and addiction issues can lead to behavioral turbulence and conflicts with society that result in jail. In noting incarceration status please adopt a compassion-first regard. For a variety of reasons the given list may not be all inclusive of those individuals actually processed.
By BuffScan for BuffScan.
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Forgive Me for Being So Encryptic
12/11/2025
Keep Police Radio Public Act - Flawed But Good
Explaining my thought process in ultimately supporting Assembly Bill A3516
In case one doesn't want to watch this video, here's the summary of why BuffScan supports Assembly Bill A3516 (AKA "Keep Police Radio Public Act") despite initial reservation.
The TLDR of it is the guess that the overhead of managing selective access to encrypted police radio, as the new (as of yet unsigned) law imagines, will be so great, that public safety agencies in New York will opt to keep their basic communications open to everyone in some uniform fashion in the first place. Either so that basic radio scanning nerds can continue to tune in alongside whatever "verified" journalists are using scanner radios, or, everyone just clicks on over to Broadcastify.
The law is a validation of my personal advocacy for 30 years now.
Yes, the fact that it was re-honed from the earlier New York Assembly Bill A9728 that was explicitly written such that everyone - not just "deemed journalists" - is suspicious to say the least (looking at you CNN and the like), it is still a shining example of a unique American principle that we would even be having the debate. That a law like this should ever get so close to a governor's pen.
Spotter Watch - Spotters on The Spot
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- Facebook user Tim Newkirk posted video of an apparent raid or some other formal police action involving things being carted out of a building by police. One commentator believes (and a quick Google Street View confirms) that this happened at Broadway and Sears Street. I happened on this video while reviewing Buffalo Street News 716 where it was shared to.
- Buffalo Street News 716, speaking of, also posted images and video from a school bus accident at Dorothy Street and Baitz Avenue. Details on injuries were light at the time of their posting (though generally, school bus accidents, particularly in bad weather like today, are actually fairly common and rarely result in serious injuries).
- The Southtowns Scanner posted a traffic cam cap of an accident that occurred tonight on the I-90 near mile marker 426.
- Buffalo Fire Department-Helmets & Hose Wagons posted this FD response porn from yesterday 12/10.
** If you operate a digital place for the presentation of captured news and drama and would like to be regularly reviewed for BuffScan's "Spotters on the Spot", please let me know.
BuffScan Pokey Report
The following are fresh listings in the publicly distributed Erie County Jail Roster as of yesterday.
Booking Date 12/10/25- AVENT, ALVIN
- BARKSDALE, DELRESSA J
- BRADLEY, DENNIS
- COUGHLIN, BRETT W
- DANIELS, GREGG E
- DAVILA, SHEILA
- FRUEHAUF, VINCENT
- GIBSON, MICHAEL T
- HARDEMAN, HORATIO M
- HENN, HEATHER E
- LOFTON, DEVAUGHN
- THOMPSON, JACKEE
** In providing this convenient aggregate listing please keep in mind the following: Incarceration in county jail does not imply guilt - statistically, most inmates are in fact legally innocent and are only incarcerated pending further legal proceedings. As well, many circumstances including mental health and addiction issues can lead to behavioral turbulence and conflicts with society that result in jail. In noting incarceration status please adopt a compassion-first regard. For a variety of reasons the given list may not be all inclusive of those individuals actually processed.
By BuffScan for BuffScan.
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