Moments after D.C. rang in the New Year, an off-duty officer in Fairfax County inadvertently broadcast “audio porn” over police radio, according to the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau. Fairfax County Police told WTOP that the audio transmission, which occurred around 12:30 a.m. on Jan 1., was on a channel primarily used by dispatchers and first responders.
WTOP sent a recording of the “inappropriate” radio broadcast to the FCPD via email — the department said the more than five minutes of audio matched what was broadcast on police radio overnight. The department said that the officer in question was off-duty and alone in his vehicle when the incident occurred. “The off-duty officer had his portable radio in the trunk of his car and forgot to turn it off,” the department said in a subsequent news release. “Our investigation revealed that the off-duty officer was listening to ‘audio porn’ over his Bluetooth in his vehicle, which was captured on his activated police radio.”
A statement from @FairfaxCountyPD on the transmission of over 5 minutes of what it called “audio porn,” on the county’s dispatch channel just midnight on New Year’s Day. Audio apparently came from off-duty officer’s radio. (The transmission first reported by @STATter911.) @WTOP pic.twitter.com/eUpXLLiRpG
— Mike Murillo (@MikeMurilloWTOP) January 2, 2023
A spokesperson for the department said the police officer, who remains unidentified, has been interviewed about the incident by Internal Affairs and the investigation will continue. WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.