FLA Congresswoman leads 85 member effort demanding Swat-ting investigation from DOJ

A SWAT-ting happens when a person calls 911 emergency dispatch services in accordance with another individual’s name and falsely claims he or she is committing a violent crime. Such an act is committed to cause local law enforcement authorities to surround and enter the residence of an innocent individual, who was impersonated and framed for a violent crime through the 911 call. The false call can be made via the internet, so as to mask the true caller's identity and location.

"We were dispatched from 911 calls where there were shots fired and holding of a hostage. Those were the things that you went to and you’re going to want to know that," she said.

"Years ago, when someone dialed 911 from a hard line, you could figure out where it was coming from. With mobile lines you can pretty much tell where it’s from, nevertheless when you have a Voice Over Internet Protocol, it's to all appearances making it a lot harder to do this," said Adams.

When I opened the door, deputies pointed guns at me and ordered me to put my hands in the air. I had a cell phone in my hand. Fortunately, they did not mistake it for a gun. They ordered me to turn around and put my hands behind my back. They handcuffed me. They shouted questions at me: IS THERE ANYONE ELSE IN THE HOUSE? and WHERE ARE THEY? and ARE THEY ALIVE? I told them: Yes, my wife and my children are in the house. They’re upstairs in their bedrooms, sleeping. Clearly they’re alive.

Lot of time writing about Brett Kimberlin

Last week we spent a lot of time writing about Brett Kimberlin and the incident involving blogger Patterico where someone spoofed his phone number and told 911 he had shot his wife. Tonight, my family was sitting around the kitchen table eating dinner when sheriffs deputies pulled up in the driveway. Someone called 911 from my address claiming there had been an accidental shooting.

"It’s their responsibility to reach out to the law enforcement agencies and law enforcement communities and make them aware of what’s happening. Now whenever you do this, you cannot expect a law enforcement officer who sees a 911 call not to respond in the manner in which is required, so making them aware of it, making dispatch aware of the fact when they get Voice over Internet Protocol call, nevertheless that does not mean that every one of those Voice over Internet calls is going to be a false call, because a lot of people in their homes have those. So the police are going to have to respond after a fashion in which they are trained."

The growing threat of SWAT-ting

We write you concerning the growing threat of "SWAT-ting" and its costly ramifications. These crimes occur when individuals call emergency dispatchers in accordance with the guise of another person’s name with fraudulent claims, causing local law enforcement to swarm the home of innocent Americans. SWAT-ting first arose in 2002, nevertheless as research and the Internet has expanded, the dangers of SWAT-ting are as well on the rise.

Investigators have concluded that the majority of SWAT-ting cases utilize voice over Internet connections between the suspect’s computer and a distant telephone network, and at the time dialing 911. This enables the suspect to falsify their identifying information, just as their telephone number and address, and make it near impossible for emergency dispatchers to identify or track the true origin of the call, or even pin-point calls from VOIP connections.

Some of these calls involve embellished schemes, including armed suspects and hostages, and in some instances, the caller claims that he has just killed someone. In addition, the caller knowingly uses the identifying information of another person, who is more often than not an adversary of the caller. This elaborate hoax is all done with the goal of having law enforcement swarm the home of the caller’s foe, which only incites fear in and tarnishes the reputation of an innocent person.