
Police are now treating swatting as a serious crime - danso
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/trolls-turned-911-weapon-now-cops-are-fighting-back-n1105991
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mindslight
Of course the police find it _really_ convenient to pin the entire blame on a
shithead who makes a fake 911 call, but most of that blame actually lies with
the police themselves - they're the ones carrying the guns, hopped up on
watching too many action movies, and generally behaving as if they're fighting
some all-out ground war rather than proceeding calmly as domestic peace
officers.

Ultimately, there should be no need for special per-address annotations like
"SWATTING CONCERNS", because _every single situation_ should be treated with
utmost caution and restraint.

~~~
curryst
I came here to say this. The Seattle Public Affairs director said:

"They are showing up to verify everyone is safe, not showing up with the
assumption that this is Point Break"

Why would they ever show up assuming that this is Point Break? The implication
is extremely concerning. That kind of event happens so rarely it should never
be an assumption. And that movie was even about a bank heist, not a response
to someone's house.

There is a severe disconnect between US police officer's view of their job,
and the reality (queue that grid meme, what other people think I do, what I
think I do, etc). Their on the job fatality rate is half that of sanitation
workers picking up trash from the curb. It is one tenth that of logging
workers. They're tied for the 14th most dangerous job with electrical power
line installers. From [https://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-dangerous-
jobs-in-a...](https://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-dangerous-jobs-in-
america-2018-7#6-structural-iron-and-steel-workers-29) which uses Labor Bureau
stats.

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3fe9a03ccd14ca5
Swatting is disgusting. It’s a scourge. It’s also frightening that in our
society we have people who are incapable of seeing just how wrong it is, and
see it as some sort of “prank” and not attempted murder, which ruins the lives
of the lost one and of the officer.

I mean it not in a judgemental that the people who are calling in these
incidents are sick and need help from professionals. I really hope they get
the help they need before they go on in their lives and do things they regret.

