Sheriff hunts for another radio pirate

Young County Sheriff Travis Babcock vowed to find and prosecute the individual or individuals allegedly responsible for interfering with local dispatch channels and impeding first responders’ duties.

For several months, the alleged perpetrators have played music from pop or rock and roll radio stations on the YCSO frequency, Sheriff Babcock told County Commissioners on July 15.

The transmissions occur intermittently, inhibiting the work of the Sheriff ’s Office and posing a danger to citizens A, Sheriff Babcock said.

YCSO filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the two organizations will work together to locate the source of the problem, he said.

This is the second time in two years that law enforcement channels have been pirated by private individuals.

In 2022, Graham police officers tracked down a radio that had been transmitting sounds of a barking dog named ‘L.T.’ over Young County law enforcement dispatch channels for months.

The rogue transmissions –involving the dog and a man, woman and children yelling at each other and at “L.T.” to stop barking – were a daily occurrence familiar to law officers countywide.

It got so bad that deputies sometimes had to call each other on cell phones to communicate, and Sheriff Babcock contacted the FCC for help. The agency gave the YCSO a statement to broadcast, warning the pirates to cease operating on the emergency channel.

Graham police tracked down the handheld, voice activated radio after an officer heard construction noises during the unauthorized transmissions.

Sheriff Babcock said the YCSO has also enlisted help from ham radio operators.