[Scan-DC] 'Rogue' transmission goes out on police channels

[Alan Henney]

Chicago Tribune

July 6, 2018 Friday
Final Edition

'Rogue' transmission goes out on police channels

BYLINE: By Gregory Pratt, Chicago Tribune

SECTION: NEWS ; ZONE C; Pg. 7

LENGTH: 273 words

The city of Chicago is investigating an unauthorized audio transmission on
its police radio frequencies Wednesday night.

Melissa Stratton, spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management and
Communications, said the city is investigating an unauthorized use of its
police radio frequencies that occurred Wednesday evening. She said it was a
"rogue radio transmission," a general term for unauthorized transmissions,
and not a city user accidentally broadcasting his or her own audio.

The Chicago area is home to a vibrant community of police scanner listeners
who often use Twitter to document significant or strange audio. Twitter
user @WindyCityWxMan at 8:11 p.m. noted the transmission and that it had
moved to different scanner channels.

Another user said the transmission sounded like "someone telling a story, a
very scary, intense, angry story."

Stratton said she couldn't confirm anything about the content of the audio.

At one point, a radio dispatcher told police units to switch to a different
channel if they had any emergencies.

"We have a rogue radio," the dispatcher said.

As the interruption continued, the same dispatcher later said, "A little
bit of an officer safety hazard on the zone at the moment, so anybody with
any emergency please switch over to a citywide."

Rogue transmissions occur "periodically," Stratton said, "but we have
worked with the police and federal authorities to investigate when it has
occurred."

Speaking generally, she said, police dispatchers will switch radio zones if
there's a "substantial issue" with a channel.

gpratt at chicagotribune.com

Twitter @royalpratt ct18 0056 180706 N S 0000000000 00002234