Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked that a hate crime investigation be launched after someone accessed police radio frequencies numerous times over the last month and used racial slurs.
The most recent incident happened Tuesday, when someone interrupted an officer describing a shooting suspect and said "shoot the god---- n----- and get it over with," police confirmed.
The incident is not the first of its kind and the city said an investigation into the comments is ongoing.
"The Office of Emergency Management and Communications and the Chicago Police Department, together with our federal partners, continue to investigate the unauthorized use of the City's radio frequencies that have occurred over the last month," the Office of Emergency Management and Communications said in a statement Wednesday. "The comments are absolutely unacceptable and we do not condone them nor the unauthorized use of the radio frequencies."
Officials said they do not believe the comments were made by a Chicago officer and it does not appear the comments come from a city-programmed radio.
"We have filed a complaint with the FCC regarding the transmissions and Mayor Emanuel has asked Cook County State's Attorney and U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois to launch a hate crime investigation," OEMC said.
The police department began investigating similar incidents after racial slurs, including the n-word, were heard on police radio channels last month.
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Audio from the calls revealed a man saying "typical f---ing n-----s" on the radio channel as a dispatcher and officer communicated. Another person on the radio also said, "All black lives matter man, f---ing n-----s."
At the time, Emanuel called the comments "absolutely unacceptable."
The incidents come as tensions between police and the city's black community continue to rise following the release of footage showing the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
