WCMH in Columbus, Ohio is reporting that its website is being blocked on computers used by a local police department.
The NBC affiliate said police officers for the City of Reynoldsburg told them anonymously that the WCMH website has been blocked on department-owned computers. Reynoldsburg is roughly 10 miles from Downtown Columbus.
The news comes after the station aired an ongoing report of “alleged turmoil among the ranks at RPD, and featured officers speaking on the record about low morale and retaliatory leadership.”
“We are reviewing all devices to see if there is any actual evidence of this occurring on any City device to verify,” Reynoldsburg Mayor Joe Begeny told the station. “but it is unlikely that the devices … are actually property of the City of Reynoldsburg or the Reynoldsburg Police Department.”
The station said visitors to NBC4i.com reached a page with an error message on it (pictured), regardless of which web browser they used. The message contained the wording “tunnel connection failed,” which WCMH said is a sign that a site has been blocked by a network administrator.
There’s no word when the site became unavailable. A retired Reynoldsburg detective said a third-party vendor handles the city’s IT services.