Posted by Bud on October 01, 2009 at 14:53:55:
From Michael Sneed's column in today's Sun-Times:
...................
Sting sting ...
Did Chicago radio personality Jonathon Brandmeier blow the cover of an undercover police sting operation this week?
** To wit: Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart's spokesman, Steve Patterson, tells Sneed they are looking into legal action against Brandmeier and The Loop 97.9 FM for discussing a police sting on air as it was happening.
** Background: A female officer was posing as a prostitute along Mannheim Road in Franklin Park on Tuesday morning, when Brandmeier fielded a phone call from someone who gave a physical description of the undercover officer on the air, said Patterson.
** Buckshot: Sheriff's police phone calls to the station asking them to stop were futile, said Patterson. "We called with more than an hour left to go in the show, and the station operations manager said he'd look into it and get back to us," said Patterson. "But the sting was still discussed on air, and we're still waiting for that call."
** Flip flop: Station operations manager Kyle Guderian initially told Sneed's column Wednesday: "After reviewing the audio, I was definitely not going to run down the hall and put a stop to it." Hours later, Guderian stated: "It wasn't our intent to put anyone in harm's way or screw up any investigations. We feel bad for potentially interfering with the investigation -- and will work harder to make sure it doesn't happen in the future. It was more or less a live radio moment, and we didn't realize what was happening at the time."
** Sting results: The sting netted 14 people from different walks of life, including a man in a company truck who just finished pumping waste from a porta-pottie, and a small-business consultant recently named to Crain's magazine's list of 40 people under the age of 40.