Hackers Jammed Chicago Police Scanners With N.W.A.'s "F**k Tha Police"

The city has launched an investigation to find out who is responsible for jamming its emergency radio system.

Chicago's police radio system was jammed by hackers over the weekend who interrupted transmissions with N.W.A.'s "Fuck Tha Police," the viral internet song "Chocolate Rain" and more.

In a report from the Chicago Sun-Times, hackers played "everything from anti-cop music to pro-police slogans as dispatchers struggled to answer calls during the looting and gun violence." Dan Casey, deputy director of public safety information technology in the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said that recordings of the transmissions are being given to local and federal authorities who are investigating the incident.

Jamming, which is to make a broadcast or other electronic signal unintelligible by causing interference, is illegal, with the Federal Communications Commission noting that "The use or marketing of a jammer in the United States may subject you to substantial monetary penalties, seizure of the unlawful equipment, and criminal sanctions including imprisonment."

Although other reports have stated that it was the hacker group Anonymous who hacked Chicago's radio system and played "Fuck Tha Police," that was not confirmed in the Sun-Times report. Videos allegedly showing the N.W.A. track cutting through transmissions have surfaced online.

In a separate report on the jamming incident from Vice, the viral internet song "Chocolate Rain" by Tay Zonday was also played over the city's police radio system.