Broadcast Writer

By Vicki W. Kipp
Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) Chapter 24 Newsletter
November 1, 2001

In this article, we will discuss pranks and malicious mischief that can occur at towers.

UNINVITED GUESTS

Often located in isolated areas, towers may be vulnerable to high jinks because perpetrators feel that they are unlikely to be caught. Occasionally, unauthorized people will visit a tower site just to check it out. People may even free-climb on a tower, even though it is illegal and could potentially lead to injury or death.

Trespassing brings other issues. “I’ve picked more pieces of apparel off of towers than I can count,” reports consultant Rich Wood of Resonant Results, LTD. Nuisance vandalism activities may include tire spin out marks, litter, and graffiti.

On May 23, 2000, a radio transmitter building in Eddington, Maine was vandalized as a consequence of a large party in the area. Vandals removed and burned the building’s door, and stole a portable radio.

BASE JUMPING

Considered a thrilling extreme sport by some, BASE jumping is a nightmare to those who oversee towers. This reckless sport is like parachuting, except that the person jumps from a lower height. BASE jumping involves jumping off of a still object, free-falling for up to three seconds, triggering a handheld pilot chute, and then maneuvering to land on the ground without injury. The sport’s name is derived from a composite of the platforms base jumpers leap from: Bridges, Antennas, Span, and Earth. The word ‘Antennas’ refers to antenna towers.

On Super Bowl Sunday 1998, BASE jumpers climbed and jumped from the WHWC-TV tower in Menomonie, WI belonging to the Educational Communications Board. Tower neighbors witnessed the incident, but did not inform site personnel until later.

CHEAP THRILL

Tower technicians complain of airplanes flying obnoxiously close to their perch on a tower. Thrill seeking pilots in crop dusters and high-performance military jets will slalom their planes between guy wires. For example, there is an 800-foot tower in Villa Rucca, Georgia near a military base that is regularly subjected to close flybys.

PRANKS

The relationship between college students and tower pranks is a longstanding one. Tech Tower, a tower building as opposed to a steel lattice broadcast tower, is the oldest and best known campus landmark at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The tower once suffered recurrent student shenanigans.

In 1902, college senior James Anthony climbed the tower to paint the message “T + M ‘02”, an apparent display of his class spirit. Initially, the identity of the prankster was not known. Students feared punishment from Georgia Tech President and strict disciplinarian Lyman Hall. “We may all get sent home for this,” lamented one member of the class of 1902. Anthony eventually admitted to his prank, and was forced to remove the graffiti, pay for the damage, and publicly apologize to the college. “TECH” signs were later added to the Tech Tower, inspiring the jovial tradition of pranksters stealing the “T”.

Although past administrations genially tolerated this tomfoolery, this custom has been abandoned as it is now sternly condemned. Alarms, motion detectors, and other increased security measures have effectively prevented further attempts to steal the “T.”

It is rumored that fraternities sometimes haze pledges by requiring them to retrieve a light bulb from a communications tower. One tower technician climbed a tower to replace a light bulb after a tower light failure had been reported. Reportedly, when he climbed up to the light, he found that the light bulb had been removed from its base, and was sitting by the light lens on top of a six-pack of beer.

In a reverse prank, tower technician Russ Prieve mentions mounting a plastic pink flamingo lawn ornament that he and Rich Wood found at a tower site at the exterior of a tower light for the amusement of other technicians.

BAD AIM OR BAD JUDGEMENT?

Bernie Heinemann, owner of Wave Communications/ Skyline, recounted a tower job where he was contracted to replace a tower top light bulb that had failed. When he climbed to the top of the tower, it quickly became apparent why the light was out. Someone had shot a bullet through it. It didn’t take too much imagination to cite a possible source of the bullet.

When Heinemann looked back through the bullet hole in the tower light to determine the bullet’s path, he saw the back door of a house. Ironically, the owner of the house had been quite vocal about his opposition to the construction of the tower near his home. The land that the tower had been built on was the object of a purchase dispute between the land’s seller and the homeowner.

While the month of November is celebrated as the season for deer hunting, it sometimes becomes open season on towers as well. There are reports of tower lights, antennas, and transmission lines being shot. In fact, tower technicians who perform tower inspections are trained to visually inspect every inch of transmission line for a ballistic puncture. Wave Communications/ Skyline Project Manager Russ Prieve recalls, “I’ve replaced ten tower lights that have been stolen or shot during the past six years. If vandals have shot the transmission line, the repairs can become expensive.”

Shooting at a tower or tower appurtenances is illegal and wrong, but people still engage in tower target practice. What prompts this bad behavior? Some attacks on towers are motivated by the attacker’s hostility towards the tower. People who were opposed to having a tower built near their homes may harbor resentment towards the completed tower. The “Not In my Backyard!” (NIMBY) proponents may be so bitter that they would actually commit a harmful act against a tower.

Another scenario is a bullet fired by hunters who are frustrated with their lack of success hunting. As the hunting season draws to a close, they vent their anger by taking a shot at an unarmed tower. Still others take aim at a tower not because of ill will towards the edifice, but because they are overcome with temptation to shoot at a large nonconforming structure.

MALICE

While the word ‘prank’ conjures images of an amusing and mostly harmless joke, some acts against towers are clearly examples of criminal intent.

On September 21, 1999, vandals cut four ¾-inch transmission line cables on the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) tower in Sillusi Bette, Washington. The CSEPP manager speculated that a heavy tool such as a bow cutter would have been required to cut the lines. In what was possibly a deliberate attempt to sabotage CSEPP, the lines that vandals cut fed an alarm system that would trigger sirens and traffic message boards if toxic chemicals were released from the nearby Umatilla Chemical Depot. Despite damage to the tower hardware, CSEPP would have still been able to trigger the alarms via a computer remote control.

On December 30, 1999, saboteurs toppled an 80-foot steel high-voltage electrical tower in Bend, Oregon by pulling the bolts from the tower guy wires. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. If the motive was to cut power, then the mission failed because other lines in the electrical grid began compensating at once. Although it sustained nicks and scratches, the tower was otherwise undamaged. The tower was raised and returned to service the next day.

On September 16, 2000, a radio pirate broke into Wisconsin Public Radio’s (WPR) Green Bay radio station WHID-FM. The pirate cut the WHID incoming audio feed, and spliced a battered CD player into the transmission path. The CD player played a satanic message over WHID-FM until WPR staff were notified and intervened. The Brown County Sheriff Department, the FBI, and the FCC investigated this crime.

Green Bay, Wisconsin was targeted again between December 25, 2000 and January 1, 2001 when someone burned down the WZOR-FM transmitter facility in the nearby Town of Denmark. Arson was determined to be the cause of the fire. The 6,000-Watt transmitter and transmitter building belonging to commercial rock station ‘The Razor’ 94.7 FM were destroyed. WZOR was off the air for two weeks.

PENALTIES IF CAUGHT

Unauthorized tower visitors may face consequences for their actions. If caught, they may be charged with trespassing, criminal damage to property, burglary, or other crimes. After speaking with a local law enforcement professional, I gathered the following general information applicable to Dane County. Laws and consequences vary by location. Please consult with law enforcement or an attorney for information applicable to your area.

While some lesser crimes committed at a tower site are considered misdemeanors, graver crimes are considered felonies and are punishable by a more severe sentence. The penalty for trespassing at a tower site is no different than for trespassing at any other location.

Although you can’t be arrested for trespassing, you could receive a county or municipal citation, depending on the location of the tower. The dollar amount of the trespassing citation varies by county. For example, a trespassing citation costs $150 in Columbia County and $200 in Dane County. Whether a person enters the tower grounds without permission or climbs up the tower, they would receive the same citation.

The trespasser may be let off with a warning, at the discretion of the officer. One site engineer explained that he felt it was better to let trespassers off lightly, with hopes of keeping the incident quiet. He feared that any media attention of a trespassing incident might encourage others to try the same thing.

Trespassers may be subject to additional citations, depending on their actions at the tower site. Committing vandalism at a tower site would be considered criminal damage to property. This infraction is a misdemeanor and is an arrestable offense. The dollar amount of the citation for criminal damage to property is based on the cost of the damage caused.

When a tower trespasser steals something from a tower site, including a tower light, this is a burglary felony. Criminal damage to property and burglary crimes that affect the signal transmission may be referred to the FCC.

PREVENTION

Most tower site staff have taken steps to reduce the likelihood of their tower being vandalized. Site personnel are advised to install fencing around the tower base and guy anchors (Figure 1). Signs that warn, “Danger-High Levels of RF energy” (Figure 2) or “Danger-High Voltage” (Figure 3) may discourage some unwelcome visitors.

Maintaining a good relationship with the tower neighbors gives you a lot more people to keep an eye on your tower site. Some sites have invested in motion sensors and alarms, or tower cameras for remote monitoring. Even if you don’t have any type of security device in place, consider giving the [false] impression that the site is under constant electronic surveillance. Tower neighbors and visitors may spread this information around. The threat of electronic surveillance suggests that your tower is not an easy target.

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, towers sometimes have unwelcome visitors. Offenses ranging from minor pranks to criminal mischief can occur. There are actions that you can take to discourage unauthorized persons from visiting your tower.

Next month, we’ll continue our discussion of the tower industry with a look at a course that teaches tower technicians to climb safely.

Information for this article came from the following sources: Campus Life “Ramblins- Students Love, Vandalize Symbolic Tech Tower”; ComTrain Tower Climbing Safety and Rescue Course; East Oregonian “Authorities Investigate Alert System Vandalism”; Educational Communications Board (ECB): Delivery Engineering; MFSF “Spires on the Skyline”; PageWise, Inc.The Basics of Base Jumping”; Resonant Results, LTD.; The Oregonian “Crews re-erect BPA Tower Toppled Near Bend”; The Post- Crescent “Fire Damage Takes WZOR Off The Air”; Wave Communications/ Skyline.

Figure 1. Tower bases and guy anchors should be fenced in.

Figure 2. Intimidating signage may discourage unauthorized visitors from getting close to RF sources.

Figure 3. Signage clearly warns trespassers not to enter.