INDUSTRY FOCUS

Swatting is not Amusing

You have noticed and read the news, chaos and disruption, society veering away from the norm. At least the normal that was familiar to us. Without focusing on the grim reality of mass shootings, there is another crazy thing happening.

Swatting. This is an act of creating a hoax 911 call, typically the caller reporting hostages, gunfire or other acts of extreme violence. The goal is to divert law enforcement and emergency responders to a person’s residence, or in some cases, a campus setting.

This act is deliberate, and is a malicious act that creates an atmosphere of fear and unnecessary risk. In fact, a responding law enforcement officer shot and killed an unintended victim, all because of swatting.

It is not amusing.

There are laws and penalties, but swatting continues to be an issue. Law enforcement find it hard to enforce because swatters use sophisticated techniques to hide their identity. Often times, the swatter uses ID spoofing, using software to make it appear that it is a local call, but they could be anywhere in the world.

Campus security is taking the larger portion of prank calls. Officers respond swiftly to a call from a campus. Once they arrive, it will be with guns drawn. In early February, police in Saginaw Township, MI, rammed a cruiser through the locked front doors at Nouvel Catholic Central High School. Reportedly, two students shot.

It boggles my mind what a person who makes this kind of call might be thinking. It reminds of some wayward student pulling the fire alarm, back in the day. It was not funny then, and it sure is not funny today.

“We cannot empower people like this, nor let them undermine the emotional well-being of our students and our team,” wrote Eric Swain, principal of Clovis West High School in Fresno, Calif., in a letter to parents, informing them that classes would continue after the school dealt with swatting calls Feb. 3 and 6.

This article originally appeared in the March / April 2023 issue of Security Today.

About the Author

Ralph C. Jensen is the Publisher/Editor in chief of Security Today magazine.

Featured

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.