crime firegeezer on 31 Aug 2008 01:23 pm
Stolen Radios Blamed For Police Disruption
ON TUESDAY WE REPORTED (HERE) ON four portable radios that were stolen from two Dallas, Texas, fire stations.
At least one of them had a police channel installed in it and now there are suspicions that they are being used to disrupt one of the police district frequencies. The Dallas Morning News is REPORTING:
The pranksters did not cause any serious problems for police dispatchers or officers in the northeast patrol division, but were more of an annoyance, said Senior Cpl. Kevin Janse, a police spokesman.
“They were dispatching calls and handling police dispatch functions,” he said. “It was a little disruptive.”
Police said they don’t know for sure whether the interlopers were using the devices stolen Sunday because the pranksters did not say so over the air, Cpl. Janse said. But police believe it is likely because at least one of them had police frequencies programmed into it.
The problem began about 2:30 p.m. Thursday when the pranksters “began making unwanted and disruptive statements over the air on Channel 2,” the frequency assigned to northeast patrol officers.
They began saying things over the radio like “code red, code red,” Cpl. Janse said.
For about 30 minutes, officers at northeast patrol temporarily shifted to a secure channel.
It has been Firegeezer’s observation that when this happens the radio battery eventually runs down and then the radio is pitched.
