For the first time in Galesburg’s history, police, fire, and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office will be able to communicate directly on the radio. The transition to the StarCom21 statewide system also brings encrypted communications — a decision city officials say aligns with statewide law enforcement standards, but one that will end public scanner access to most dispatch traffic.
The City Council approved a $1.24 million contract with Motorola Solutions in October for the transition. At the time, city officials said whether the system would allow public scanner access was still under review. That review is now complete — and the answer is no.
Galesburg Police Chief Kevin Legate and Fire Chief Randy Hovind answered questions from WGIL about what the transition means, why the decision was made, and what the public can still hear. Knox County Sheriff Jack Harlan, whose office has operated on StarCom21 since approximately 2008, also weighed in.
1. What’s changing — and what isn’t
Most dispatch traffic between Galesburg Police, Galesburg Fire, Knox County Sheriff’s Department, and Galesburg Dispatch will be encrypted and no longer accessible to the public.
Two categories of traffic will remain unencrypted: the initial page-out for fire calls, and fireground communications — the channels firefighters use while working at the scene of an incident.
2. Why are they doing this?
City officials point to two primary reasons: the move to StarCom21 makes encryption the standard, and there are legitimate safety and privacy concerns that encryption addresses.
“Encryption is simply one component of that upgrade, and both the upgrade to Starcom and encryption is in line with the standards of law enforcement across the state,” Legate and Hovind said in a joint written response.
They also cited growing concerns about the spread of misinformation through social media, where scanner traffic can be shared in real time with large audiences — sometimes without context or verification.
“Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking consequences is loved ones learning of a tragedy not through personal contact from officials, but through a third-party social media post,” the chiefs said.
That concern was illustrated during a full-scale active shooter drill at Knox College on June 25, 2025. Scanner traffic from the exercise was shared on social media as if it were a real incident, requiring law enforcement to intervene to correct the record. Radio communications were identified as a critical area for improvement following that drill.
3. Is this Galesburg’s choice, or is encryption required?
StarCom21 radios are configured with encryption as the standard for local law enforcement, and some statewide mutual aid channels are set at the state level — keeping traffic publicly accessible would require additional steps, and city officials said that factored into their decision.
The decision to encrypt was reached by consensus among the leadership of Galesburg Police, Galesburg Fire, and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office during the system’s setup process.
4. What about transparency?
City officials acknowledge the concern directly.
“The City of Galesburg is committed to transparent and open operations and adheres to the comprehensive transparency safeguards in place for local government, including FOIA laws,” Legate and Hovind said. They added that police and fire leadership will monitor the updated operations after implementation and evaluate whether additional transparency measures should be considered.
5. What does the Knox County Sheriff say?
Harlan, whose office has nearly two decades of experience on StarCom21, is supportive of Galesburg’s transition and says encryption is not a barrier to interoperability when properly managed.
“Encryption serves several important public safety purposes,” Harlan said. “It helps protect sensitive law enforcement information, safeguards victims and witnesses from unnecessary exposure, prevents criminals from monitoring law enforcement activity in real time, and enhances the safety of officers and first responders during dangerous or rapidly evolving situations.”
Harlan pointed to a longstanding communication gap between the Sheriff’s Office and Galesburg Police as a real public safety problem. During major incidents, officers from both agencies responding to the same scene have had to relay information through the 911 dispatch center rather than communicate directly.
“In emergency situations, seconds matter,” Harlan said. “Delays in communication can create confusion, slow response times, reduce situational awareness, increase risks to responding personnel and the public, and complicate coordinated incident management.”
6. What about mutual aid with smaller departments?
City officials say specific channels and frequencies will be available to accommodate mutual aid with agencies not on StarCom21, and that encryption will not create a communication gap during joint responses.
Harlan confirmed that most agencies in Knox County are already operating on StarCom21, and that the most significant interoperability challenge has historically been the lack of a unified platform among the county’s primary law enforcement agencies — not the smaller surrounding departments.
7. When does this take effect — and is Galesburg alone in doing this?
The full system, including encryption, is anticipated to go live by June 1, 2026.
Galesburg is not alone. City officials noted that the majority of similar or larger communities in Illinois have already made this transition, including the Quad Cities in 2022, Bloomington-Normal in 2020, Peoria in 2025, and Rockford and Springfield dating back to 2016.
The trend extends beyond Illinois. In the northwest suburbs of Chicago, 13 fire departments encrypted their dispatch communications in October 2025 with no public announcement. In the City of Chicago, most police channels are encrypted, though the city provides a 30-minute delayed feed through Broadcastify.
