Authorities still investigating racial slurs
Eron Ben-Yehuda
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Investigators are still searching for the people who
uttered racial slurs over a police radio frequency during a search for
bank robbers last week.
The slurs were heard Dec. 8, as officers from Huntington Beach,
Westminster, the Orange County district attorney’s office and the FBI
were pursuing two African American suspects who had robbed the Wells
Fargo Bank at Goldenwest Street and Bolsa Avenue, police said.
While the Huntington Beach Police Department has launched an
investigation to identify who made the comments, local officials stress
that other agencies were involved and that many amateur radio operators
could have “hacked” into the frequency.
“There is a huge number of people that share those airwaves,” Huntington
Beach Police Sgt. Janet Perez said.
Perez said she couldn’t estimate when the investigation would be wrapped
up.
“It just takes time,” she said.
A similar incident took place in February in Westminster. Police blamed
the derogatory comments about Asians on an amateur hacker.
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