Swatting

Rare card · No. 46472

Swatting is a form of criminal harassment that involves deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency response team to another person's location. This is achieved by false reporting of a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a hostage situation, bomb threat, active shooter, or domestic violence incident, or of a mental health crisis, such as an armed person presenting as suicidal or homicidal. The term is derived from the law enforcement unit SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), a police tactical unit originated in the United States. It is not related to the verb "to swat". SWAT teams are equipped with tactical gear and weapons that differ from patrol units, and are called to situations that are deemed high-risk. A threat may result in evacuations of schools and businesses, property damage, widespread panic, and the potential for copycat callers. Advocates have called for swatting to be considered terrorism...

Read on Wikipedia · Image File:FBI SWAT team Watervliet Arsenal.jpg: U.S. Army Materiel Command derivative work: Georgfotoart, CC BY 2.0