Warning after Hawke's Bay police radio plays 2pac rap song 'Shorty Wanna Be A Thug'

A radio frequency channel used by Hawke's Bay police played infamous rapper 2pac's song 'Shorty Wanna Be A Thug' earlier in the week. Photo / NZME

A rap song playing on a Hawke's Bay police radio channel has prompted a warning that interference with a police radio is a prosecutable offence.

Rapper Tupac Shakur's song "Shorty Wanna Be A Thug" was broadcast in full over a four-minute period on Wednesday afternoon about 1.30pm.

The track by Shakur - also known as 2Pac - was on his "All Eyez on Me" album and includes explicit lyrics that talk about the dangers of a young man entering a gangster lifestyle.

'Shorty Wanna Be A Thug' features on Tupac Shakur's - AKA 2pac - fourth album 'All Eyez on Me' which was the last released before his death in a drive-by shooting. Photo / NZME

It was his last album produced before his death, aged just 25, in a drive-by shooting in 1996.

Police would not comment on the specific incident, but a spokesperson said any interference with a police radio was deemed a risk to public safety.

"Anyone caught doing so may be prosecuted under sections 113 and 114 of the Radiocommunications Act 1989 for transmitting radio waves without a licence."

It's not the first time such a warning has been issued.

In 2017 Upper Hutt man Andrew Holt, an avid listener of police scanners, reported hearing pig oink sounds as well as someone singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and lyrics from other rap songs.

NZ Herald reported at the time the person responsible could face up to a year in prison for criminal nuisance.