# “Swatting” - what the fuck is wrong with people **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584 "2017-12-30T18:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/41 "2017-12-31T01:27:03Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And the possibility that the person they are ordering around is deaf, or doesn’t speak English, or is physically unable to comply with their commands, or… Or isn’t aware that the armed men crashing through his doors and windows are the police and reacts the way a normal person would react to such an attack - by either trying to run away or defend himself. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/42 "2017-12-31T01:37:10Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > This. The dipshit was malicious, but it’s the fault of the police that someone was killed. > > … Really. I’m so tired of “If the police show up it’ll be an unstoppable landslide of destruction because that’s what we do ha ha, and we were just doing our jobs, and we need to get home alive, even if innocent people have to die in their homes to make that happen.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/43 "2017-12-31T01:40:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Or isn’t aware that the armed men crashing through his doors and windows are the police and reacts the way a normal person would react to such an attack - by either trying to run away or defend himself. When the police break into homes, certainly. I was also thinking of traffic stops and other situations where the civilian probably believes it is the police, but is still put under an unreasonable expectation to behave with prefect compliance or be killed. The burden of dealing safely with a high stress situation should be on the trained police. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/44 "2017-12-31T02:11:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Unfortunately, “swatting” is not a new thing. It’s been going on for at least a decade. Did I read aright in one of today’s articles that there have been 400-some bogus swattings _this year_ ? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/45 "2017-12-31T02:21:30Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Did I read aright in one of today’s articles that there have been 400-some bogus swattings _this year_ ? Yes, here for one example (scroll down to end of article, teaser for another article or video on the subject mentions it): [Call of Duty gaming community points to ‘swatting’ in deadly Wichita police shooting](http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article192111974.html) in Kansas Wichita Eagle > [@](#): > > **What is ‘swatting’?** > > Around 400 swatting cases happen each year and the consequences can be deadly. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/46 "2017-12-31T02:30:07Z")
10 Internet gamers who were swatted live on air. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiW-BVPCbZk) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/47 "2017-12-31T02:30:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes, exactly. And if they get twitchy in circumstances like this then they’re not qualified for the job. How easy for you to say from the warmth and comfort of your home. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/48 "2017-12-31T02:36:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Doesn’t the 911 dispatch center know where the call was originating from? How is it that SWAuTistic didn’t end up with the SWAT team on his own doorstep? I assume he used some kind of VoIP service, where the 911 address is chosen by the customer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/49 "2017-12-31T03:04:53Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > How easy for you to say from the warmth and comfort of your home. I’m the one that doesn’t want the police risking their lives for the people who blame them for crime. There’s no reason for police to actively take risks in their job so people can sit in the warmth and comfort of their homes thinking the police will be out there to take the hit for the crime they allow to happen because they don’t want to get their hands dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/50 "2017-12-31T03:41:32Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > absolutely, I’d rather ten police were killed than one innocent member of the public. I’d prefer zero, but I’d rather it be one innocent member of the public than ten. I hope you’re not saying that police are not members of the public, and therefore disposable. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/51 "2017-12-31T04:03:38Z")
I’d like the police to do their jobs in a way that reduces deaths to a minimum, their own as well as those of other people’s. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/52 "2017-12-31T04:10:05Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I’d prefer zero, but I’d rather it be one innocent member of the public than ten. > > I hope you’re not saying that police are not members of the public, and therefore disposable. When they’re using deadly force as an agent of the state they are not members of the public, they’re agents of state power. They are not acting on their own behalf. They’re not disposable, but they are representing the state, and when exercising the authority to use deadly force on the name of the state, an agent of the state should always put the life of a member of the public he or she is serving above his or her own, if there is any reasonable doubt. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/53 "2017-12-31T04:30:47Z")
I certainly don’t want the police to be killed, but it seems worse for an innocent person to die due to police action than for either a perp or a police officer to be killed. If the police are killing innocents, they are part of the problem, not part of the solution, and we shouldn’t be giving them guns and sending them out to make situations more dangerous. Will a careful, well-trained police force ever kill an innocent? I suppose they might miss the mass shooter and hit a bystander. But that should be incredibly rare. When we see it in the news nearly weekly, there is a problem with the police. In this case, there was no danger until the police showed up. That’s a clear failure of the police. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/54 "2017-12-31T04:39:35Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > When they’re using deadly force as an agent of the state they are not members of the public, they’re agents of state power. They are not acting on their own behalf. They’re not disposable, but they are representing the state, and when exercising the authority to use deadly force on the name of the state, an agent of the state should always put the life of a member of the public he or she is serving above his or her own, if there is any reasonable doubt. So the police are there to take a bullet for you? What makes you so special? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/55 "2017-12-31T04:40:32Z")
Did it say anywhere how they identified can located this perp? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/56 "2017-12-31T04:47:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > So the police are there to take a bullet for you? What makes you so special? Yes, actually, that’s pretty much what we hire them to do. Take risks so the general public doesn’t have to. Or do you think we hire police just to enforce jaywalking laws? ---
**Author:** ![Bibliothecarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bibliothecarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliothecarius)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/57 "2017-12-31T05:02:02Z")
A little amazed that no one has yet tried this with 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue… Probably a bit too well known to draw a genuine response. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/58 "2017-12-31T05:03:42Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > absolutely, I’d rather ten police were killed than one innocent member of the public. Really? _Really?!!_ :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/59 "2017-12-31T05:20:25Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yes, actually, that’s pretty much what we hire them to do. Take risks so the general public doesn’t have to. Or do you think we hire police just to enforce jaywalking laws? We hire the police to do a professional job of enforcing the law. Where does it say they have to sacrifice their lives for the public at large? I’d like to see what law requires a police officer to sacrifice his life. What do you expect happens when the police are treated like animals? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584/60 "2017-12-31T05:28:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > So the police are there to take a bullet for you? What makes you so special? I’m not here to take a bullet for them either. Or from them. I don’t agree with the argument that one civilian life is worth ten police lives. But I also don’t believe that one police life is worth ten civilian lives. A lot of the police shootings we’ve been seeing have been due to policies that have police using deadly force in situations where they are facing only hypothetical threats. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swatting-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people/805584.md?page=4)