Posted on 06/12/2020 9:12:25 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
Cheektowaga, NY (WBEN) Cheektowaga Police have made an arrest in a case of threats made through the emergency frequency.
Police say transmissions included threats to commit shootings inside a retail establishment in the Town of Cheektowaga. The break in the case came when a Patrolman heard a transmission and noticed Jonathan Robert’s vehicle nearby. After investigation, a radio capable of transmitting on the Cheektowaga Police Department’s frequency was located in Roberts' vehicle and his voice matched that of a recording from threats made in May.
Roberts was arranged by Erie County Court Judge Calvo-Torres and released on his own recognizance. Mr. Roberts is scheduled to return to County Court on July 24th.
(Excerpt) Read more at wben.radio.com ...
Did Martin Gugino know Jonathan Robert?
It will be interesting to see how this goes. The Fed penalty is pretty severe.
Roberts was arranged by the judge? I hope he said thank you.
This is becoming a major problem to cities with older conventional radio systems. You can buy a cheap Chinese radio on Amazon for under $50, learn how to program it in no time, and find the frequencies on RadioReference with a couple of clicks.
During the NYC riots, the main Citiwide frequencies were being maliciously jammed by rioters and their sympathizers, and the dispatchers had no clue what was going on. It is literally impossible to stop them short of getting extremely lucky like what happened here or having a dedicated direction finding team hunt them down...which doesn’t work too well in a riot.
What departments are now doing is buying all new digital trunked radio systems (for many $Millions), and encrypting them so they cannot even be monitored, let alone interfered with.
To me this goes too far. Patrol frequencies keep honest citizens aware of what’s happening in their neighborhood, and there are plenty of options for sensitive tactical comms to encrypt or use cell phones.
As for this cretin, he’s done like dinner. In addition to the state criminal charges, the FCC will likely descend on him like a ton of bricks, with fines in the $20,000 range.
Jamming is a very serious offense. It also can be tied to a terrorism charge in times like these.
I had heard a brief mention of ‘music’ being played on Chicago police frequencies?
At the time, I thought a bad microphone, maybe not.
A quick search brings up this article:
...The assessment noted similar problems with Chicago police’s unencrypted radio frequencies during large downtown protests on May 30 followed by reports of arson, theft and vandalism. Chicago police also have not said how the radio frequencies were accessed, but an official with the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications told the Chicago Sun-Times that the tactic was “very dangerous.”
https://www.startribune.com/authorities-probe-radio-website-disruptions-during-protests/571178762/
Note to Real American: Have backup coms. However, the enemy needs cell towers up in order to stream live video. in many cases, hand-held ham’s will do. secure [encrypt] as necessary.
just some friendly advice.
... and my $0.02
jimjohn - OUT
He should have been harangued by the judge.
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