(ANTIMEDIA) Dunedin, New Zealand – Though anti-police sentiment in the United States has skyrocketed in recent years, American cops aren’t the only ones feeling a heightened wave of dissent. Over the past few days, an apparent troll has used a police radio frequency in Dunedin, New Zealand to repeatedly broadcast multiple versions of NWA’s “F*ck tha Police.”
The Otago Daily Times, a local paper, reported Tuesday that the “interference” was heard on police radios around 3 pm on Monday but that “it was also repeated several times over the weekend.”
The first verse of the classic 1988 song, which parodies a court case trying the police, immediately calls out police racism and violence:
“F*ck the police! Comin’ straight from the underground
A young n*gga got it bad ‘cause I’m brown
And not the other color, so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority
Fuck that shit, ‘cause I ain’t the one
For a punk motherf*cker with a badge and a gun
To be beating on, and thrown in jail
We can go toe-to-toe in the middle of a cell
F*ckin’ with me ‘cause I’m a teenager
With a little bit of gold and a pager
Searchin’ my car, lookin’ for the product
Thinkin’ every n*gga is sellin’ narcotics”
The song also goes on to criticize stop-and-frisk-type tactics and arbitrary arrests while fantasizing about violence against officers. It focuses on the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), a force with a longstanding history of brutality and corruption, and even prompted the FBI to target the rap group.
In Dunedin, the original was reportedly broadcast on police radios, along with Rage Against the Machine’s version of it.
Police claim the pranks are endangering public safety by interfering with police officers’ ability to communicate during emergency situations. Otago coastal acting area commander Inspector Kelvin Lloyd said police were called to a situation Friday evening about a man pulling a gun and that the broadcast disrupted their response.
“It was putting people in danger,” he said.
“There’s no question that if it carries on and if they do what they’re doing it will delay a response.”
He does not believe the songs have been broadcast using police radio, meaning the perpetrator is using another means to access their frequency. The police are taking the broadcasts seriously.
“Any interference with a police radio constitutes a risk to public safety, and anyone caught doing this can face a penalty of criminal nuisance and up to one year imprisonment,” Lloyd said.
Police in New Zealand are not immune to misconduct and corruption. According to a report from the New Zealand Herald, there were 725 allegations officers in the first three months of 2017, alone. Most were regarding “investigation failures, unprofessional behaviour, and excessive use of force.”
Similar anti-police trolling has previously targeted police radios in the country. Last year, officers in North Island, New Zealand, were met with the sounds of pig grunts, a man singing “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” and anti-police rap songs.
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