Last week's sentencing of Wisconsin Amateur Radio operator Rajib K. Mitra KB9DJE to eight years in federal prison for disrupting police frequencies emphasizes one thing: Domestic interference to law enforcement efforts will not be tolerated.

Mitra's jamming of police radio frequencies interfered directly with Madison Police operations. His defense that his transmissions were accidental and that they were pranks rather than terrorism, did not fly. He'll have eight years to think about why.

It would be naïve to believe that Amateur Radio traffic is routinely as critical as police communications, but it can still mean life or death. In addition to its conventional services of weather spotting and other emergency communications, the age of terrorism alertness finds Amateur Radio providing an ever more vital service to the public.

One cannot escape the conclusion that intentional interference to any duly authorized government activity, including Amateur Radio, will be met with punishment of similar severity. It should be remembered that police tracked Mitra down with technical help from Amateur Radio, specifically Ralph Pellegrini N9BDR, of Beloit.

There are two things that anyone deliberately jamming or interfering with an Amateur Radio repeater or activity can count on: First, the Amateur community will use every resource available to identify the offender. Secondly and more importantly, the Amateur community will use every resource available to see that the offender is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Paul Nelles K9DB
RMRA Webmaster