The Internet meme definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. I’m beginning to think it might be slightly insane to expect Porterville to ever join the rest of us in the 21st century. Here we go, again.
My previous blogs about Porterville and it’s LGBTQ+ community can be found at these links:
Hate In A Small Town (1) – where a Mayoral Proclamation proclaiming June 2013 as LGBT Month in Porterville is trashed by the rest of the Council and results in the Mayor and Vice-Mayor being removed from their ceremonial offices, the proclamation rescinded (a first anywhere, as far as I could find), and a bland replacement proclamation designating June 2013 as “a month of community charity and goodwill to all in Porterville”. They also changed the rules so that a vote of the Council would be required to issue a proclamation, rather than leave it as a function of the Mayor alone.
Hate In A Small Town 2 – Does Your God Hate? – One the one year anniversary of the Pride Proclamation, the LGBTQ+ community held a rally across from City Hall. Some haters joined in proclaiming the hate of God towards gay folk.
Porterville City Council Still Snubbing LGBTQ Community – (3) the same council as above refuses a Coming Out Day proclamation request.
Fast forward to 2019, and a different City Council.
We thought Porterville was finally growing and becoming a loving place. On May 21, 2019, a proclamation was issued by the City Council (a different council than the first mentioned above, and different from the current one), recognizing Harvey Milk Day In Porterville. On Tuesday, October 15, 2019, by a three to two vote, Porterville’s City Council declared October 11, 2019 as National Coming Out Day in the city. Things were looking up.
We should have known better.
Hate In A Small Town 4 –
The current city council of Porterville, California (ironically enough, an “All American City”).
The Mayor and Vice-Mayor have teamed up to introduce anti-trans resolutions in Porterville. One would ban trans women and girls from bathrooms, locker rooms, and team sports. The other would require schools in the city to report to parents any requests by students to use names, pronouns, restroom facilities, or play on team sports that do not match their birth sex. (This would violate California state law, but that doesn’t seem to faze this council. They know about it, but are trying to find a way around that messy problem.)
From the March 4 agenda:
24: Consideration of Proposed Establishment of Ordinance to Protect Women’s Safe Spaces
Re: Council direction on the proposed establishment of an Ordinance to Protect Women’s Safe Spaces.
From the March 18 agenda:
21: Consideration of Proposed Establishment of Ordinance Safeguarding Parental Rights in Education and Child Upbringing
Re: Council to provide direction on the proposed establishment of an Ordinance
If you want to find these documents online, go to this page, and select the appropriate date.
A lot of people spoke during “oral communications” (they really need to change that name. ‘Public Comments’ seems much more appropriate). You can see the You Tube video here, but the whole show is almost six hours long! (they love to talk, and talk, and talk. It’s important that they express how MAGA they are) Most comments by the public were against the proposed actions.
Dr. Kathryn Hall, M.D., a long-time pediatrician in the area, who has treated many from Porterville over the years, spoke.
I said a few words, too.
The MAGA runs deep in this council. The Mayor and Vice-Mayor, at least in the two meetings I attended, tried very diligently to out-MAGA each other. Go watch some of their meeting video, if you have the stomach for it.
The Vice-Mayor doesn’t like being challenged on his ignorance. He takes it personally. He views folks who oppose these hate proposals as “triggered activists”. And after I spoke, he amended it to “triggered activists, from out of town”. He said he would not “participate in their psychosis”, referring to anyone who believes differently from him. The Vice-Mayor spoke disparagingly of the local LGBT+ center, essentially blaming it for gains made by the LGBT+ community in Tulare County. He was annoyed that anyone would speak confrontationally, and not grovel or kiss his ring. He condemned speakers for (paraphrasing, I’m not going back and try to find the exact words he used) yelling at them, rather than having a ‘conversation’. He seemed to forget that during ‘oral communications’, the public can only speak, and the council can only listen. There is no ‘conversation’ allowed by the Brown Act. He chastised speakers for being condescending towards the council, when most of his remarks on the issue were truly condescending of the public. I tell ‘ya, it’s all projection with these guys.
I did invite the council to contact The Source LGBT+ Center, and educate themselves with factual information on transgender issues. I’m not holding my breath on that.
Hate in a small town. It hasn’t been rooted out yet. It’s discouraging, but like I said during my comments, “we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going away”.
I may have worked my last night shift.
When is a zero not a zero? Turns out, when it’s an ‘o’.
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
Visalia Police encrypt all radio traffic
March 24, 2025
Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, News encrypted police radio, police secrecy, radio encryption, visalia, visalia police department, VPD 1 Comment
As of March 20, 2025, the Visalia Police Department has switched from open transmission, receivable on any scanner, and on many types of consumer 2-way radios such as Amateur Radio Service equipment, GMRS, FRS, and phone apps, to fully encrypted transmissions. This prevents the general public from monitoring police transmissions.
This is in response to a 2020 California Department Of Justice requirement that certain “personally identifiable information (PII)” be encrypted. Here’s what Google’s AI said about it:
DOJ Mandate:
In October 2020, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) notified law enforcement agencies that they must encrypt any radio communications transmitting confidential Criminal Justice Information (CJI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
Alternative Approaches:
While encryption is the primary method, the DOJ allows agencies to meet the requirements through alternative policies that restrict the sharing of PII while still allowing the transmission of other information through open frequencies.
Examples of Alternative Methods:
Using MDTs, department cellular phones, or landline telecommunications to transmit and receive PII .
Breaking up personal information by transmitting details such as a person’s name, birthday, and address in separate transmissions or even in different channels .
Agencies Opting for Open Radio Communications:
Some agencies, like the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and dozens of counties and cities, have opted to continue sharing their radio communications while protecting personal information through alternative methods.
Visalia PD has gone to full-time encryption, and hopes CAD (computer aided dispatch) updates on a webpage, along with press releases, will assuage the public’s displeasure over loosing the ability to monitor the transmissions.
The trouble with those plans is that information will only become available after the event, and will contain no details other than the general area of the event, and a vague incident type category.
Needless to say, many people are not happy. I’m one of them.
I dispatched law enforcement for 25 years at the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. (BTW, this is my opinion only, not TCSO’s. While they have not gone to full encryption yet, they do have the ability to do so.)
I see no good reason to go to full encryption of all transmissions.
With the ever-growing YouTube proliferation of videos showing the interaction between police and the general public, and with the common theme of highlighting bad interactions rather than good ones, you’d think police departments would be working on improving their public relations, instead of hunkering down and, effectively, saying ‘it’s none of your business except for what we decide to tell you, later’. It give the impression that you’re hiding something. It also makes it easier to actually hide something.
Now, I think quite highly of the Visalia Police Department. I know the Chief, and worked with his wife some years ago when she was also a dispatcher. This decision, however, is very disappointing.
I can, just off the top of my head, think of two alternatives to full-time encryption.
Option 2 seems to me to be the most easily accomplished compromise between meeting the requirements of the DOJ and maintaining a positive relationship with the community.
There are also some technical issues with encryption that I would not be surprised VPD is discovering right now. Since open transmissions by VPD in the past have been analog FM, poor signal traffic can often be understood, especially by seasoned dispatchers. Weak signals, broken transmissions, noisy environments all make for difficult to hear or understand messages. An officer on the ground wrestling with a drunk suspect and is calling for help needs the ability to be heard by dispatch. Digital takes some of that away, as it’s all or nothing. A weak signal is not heard at all, and if a signal drops out, it’s simply not there anymore. The dispatcher cannot make out what their radio does not receive.
Police Captain Daniel Ford will be speaking on this subject at the next Visalia Citizen’s Advisory Committee meeting, to be held Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at the conference room of the City Offices located at 220 N. Santa Fe, in Visalia. The meeting time is 5:30pm, and it is open to the public. (the city webpage says meetings are held at the Convention Center, but this is outdated information)
Go back to open transmissions, VPD. It’s better for everyone. Especially you.
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