CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A couple playing in a video game tournament likely experienced one of the most prominent cases of swatting in Central Virginia.
In 2019, police swarmed their Midlothian home after someone called 911 and falsely reported a murder/hostage situation at their address.
Engrossed in their video game, two hours into the situation, the couple finally realized SWAT officers and a police helicopter were outside their home.
The husband's brother had to get in touch with them to tell them what was going on.
"I answer the phone and he said, 'Dude, I think you've been "swatted!'" he recalled.
The punishment for swatting — when someone knowingly calls in a fake threat to elicit a police response to a different address or a school — is getting stiffer in Virginia. A new law that takes effect July 1 is enhancing the penalty for those who make swatting calls.
A person convicted of making a bogus swatting call will face up to a year in jail.
If someone is hurt or killed because of a swatting, the caller will face a felony charge.
Dr. William Pelfrey, a criminal justice professor at VCU's Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, said the new law is a step in the right direction.
"When those offenses are called in, police have to rush there with as many resources as are available, which means they're pulling resources from other places," he said. "Enhancing the penalties for swatting is going to help law enforcement, it's gonna help public safety, and it may deter some events. But, the people who commit swatting are not known for their judgment. They're not thinking about the long-term consequences.”
The consequences for the victims of swatting and the police who respond can be severe.
In other parts of the country, officers have shot and even killed people because responding crews believed they were encountering a homicide or abduction suspect.
“When police show up, they think there's a very serious threat, so they run in ready for violence, and sometimes violence happens when it really shouldn't," Pelfrey said. "There's a psychological effect at schools. Imagine 1,500 students being rushed out of school because they think that there's a serious crime. If that happens, that diminishes their perceptions of safety in school.”
Last summer, Virginia schools experienced a rash of swatting calls.
Pelfrey would like to see a standardized education program rolled out at schools across the Commonwealth.
"Perhaps a police officer, or perhaps some other public safety official, can come in and say: here's why swatting is dangerous, here's what can happen to you if you do it. Just because you didn't study for a test, or just because you're mad at somebody at school, a teacher or a staff member, that's no reason to try to draw hundreds of police, dozens of police, to a school as a malicious act," he said.
The issue of swatting is far from new, and high-profile mass shootings have unfortunately created an upward trend of swatting incidents since police must respond quickly with significant resources, according to Pelfrey.
Many localities now have their 911 dispatchers analyze call data, sending officers to a call while also examining if the caller is known to falsify emergency calls.
"If police know that there is a chance, maybe a serious chance that this is a swatting incident. It'll change how they respond," Pelfrey said.
Reports surfaced Thursday that the FBI now has a database of swatting calls.
Some members of Congress are reportedly considering making swatting a federal crime.
“Foreign actors have gotten involved, and the FBI says that a substantial portion of swatting happens by enemies of the U.S. State actors, China, North Korea, Russia, they're calling in incidents, just a mess with resources to diminish trust in public safety," Pelfrey said. "Right now, it's a local crime and becoming a state crime. So, if it becomes a federal crime, that will change the resources available and the investigative capacity of the United States.”
The new law and a host of others take effect July 1.
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