“Swatting” is where someone calls the police with a false report about an egregious crime taking place, gives them an address and hopes that the SWAT team shows up at the address fully armed and ready to kill at a moment’s notice. Well, in Trenton, New Jersey, there’s a new bill on the table that would make it where those caught “Swatting” could face up to 10 years in prison.

The article from the Associated Press was published on the New Jersey 101.5 website where it was mentioned that the Assembly’s Homeland Security panel voted in favor 3 to 0 to move the measure to the full Assembly for a house vote. According to the article, there was no opposition to the bill after various reasons were laid out why the bill was needed.

The bill was sponsored by Paul Moriarty from the 4th district representing Gloucester Township. According to the Assembly Democrats website, Moriarty stated…

“To say swatting is troublesome is a severe understatement,”… “We’re talking about elaborate hoaxes that have drawn teams of specially trained officers, sometimes resulting in the closure of whole city blocks or roads, and occasionally even causing serious harm, like heart attacks, to the unsuspecting and innocent people who have these teams show up at their door. It’s time to send a message that this is not going to be treated lightly.”

According to Moriarty – a victim of swatting, no less, after originally introducing the bill back in November of 2014 – stiffer penalties need to be put into place for those inciting swatting.

Democrat and supporter of the bill, Vince Mazzo mentioned…

“The whole goal of the hoax is to draw a large scale law enforcement response. Not only does this put innocent people in harm’s way, but it wastes taxpayer dollars and diverts valuable resources from dealing with other legitimate crimes.”

According to the current law, swatting is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000 in reparations. According to the new bill, pranksters caught in the act of swatting could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $150,000.

10 streamers get swatted live Some other swat cases were reported (Koopatroopa787, Bibix, DSP). Swatting is severely punished by law and is a waste of resources. More info : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting

According to the New Jersey 101.5 article, California enacted a law back in 2013 that had swatters having to pay for the cost of the resources used to carry out the SWAT raid.

Democrat Gabriela Mosquera agreed with the others that desperate times calls for desperate measures, stating…

“Without any real way to stop it, we have to send a message that the hoax is not worth the risk of getting caught if it carries serious jail time and monetary penalties.”

Not to interject on this little parade of swatting condemnation – and I’m certainly no one who would fall on the side of defending it by any stretch of the imagination – but wouldn’t it be a heck of a lot more efficient and prudent to first verify the claims of the caller by sending a squad car and if things check out then have the SWAT team show up?

What happened to due process? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? What happened to respecting the fourth amendment? Why is it that swatting pranksters somehow result in police officers instantly gearing up, speeding to the designated address and prompting to exercise extreme measures? Is America really on the verge of becoming a police state?

I’m not against harsher penalties for swatting pranksters. There’s nothing funny about that. However, it would seem like it would be in everyone’s best interest to de-escalate the need to instantly respond to swatting calls with a SWAT team ready to enact violence with extreme prejudice.