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“Swatting,” police said, is not a prank, it is a crime.
Falsely reporting violent activity, or making threats, in order to see a police tactical response takes first responders away from critical duties and true emergencies, they said.
Fire and emergency medical services also may be called out unnecessarily due to such calls, police said.
In October, schools in Fairfield had to be locked down and thousands of students sent home early in what police say was an apparent “swatting” attack.
The incident, which caused alarm across Fairfield and beyond, began when police were called to what turned out to be a fictitious address on Black Rock Turnpike, where an individual said he had killed his girlfriend and had hostages.
Police said they also received calls about a bomb at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, pipe bombs planted at Fairfield Warde High School, and a man with an M16 assault rifle headed to Holland Hill Elementary School.
After a long and tense day of investigating, and sweeping the schools, police determined the calls were false.
More recently, state police said, a woman threatened to open fire on a day care center and a man made threats to a state office building via social media. A third person made threats while waiting in line at another state office building, police said.
Charges for making false reports include, falsely reporting an incident, reckless endangerment, misuse of the emergency 911-system, threatening and breach of peace.
Law enforcement must treat these types of incidents as genuine and respond to them, police said. Responding to false alarms takes troopers away from legitimate calls for help and wastes valuable manpower, police said.
According to state police Col. Brian Meraviglia “swatting” is “a growing problem in Connecticut and elsewhere.”
“False calls for help are criminal acts which move our much-needed first responders away from critical duties and true emergencies,” Meraviglia said.
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