NJ Radio: Local Police Shut Down Radio Pirate

The music has stopped for an illegal pirate radio station operating out of a Linden, NJ home, according to
nj.com.

On Monday, officials from WKXW New Jersey 101.5 FM contacted police with a complaint that another station was operating illegally in the city, broadcasting at a frequency of 101.3 FM.

The letter sent to police by 101.5 FM said that the station had conducted its own investigation, identifying the illegal transmission as coming from the home  and included pictures of a large antenna on the roof. Station officials wrote that they'd received multiple listener complaints about bad reception, since the pirate station was interfering with their signal, according to Sarnicki.

Operating a pirate radio station, at a certain power output and without a license, is a fourth-degree crime in New Jersey, one of two states, along with Florida, where such an action is criminal. An unlicensed broadcast interfering with a legally licensed station is a separate offense.

Police contacted the FCC and were told an investigation could take a couple weeks to complete, according to police. The police then reached out to municipal code enforcement officials, who found the home violated zoning ordinances.

Under the ordinances, the unidentified station operators would not be allowed to run a business in a residential area. The antenna, more than 20 feet high, also qualified as an illegal structure on the roof.