Sending emergency responders to a fake emergency — known as swatting — may lead to criminal charges.
In recent years, the practice of “swatting” has become all-too-common. Swatting occurs when a person tries to get police to respond to another person by creating a fake emergency. This usually happens when a person calls 911 to report a violent crime, and the police respond to that person’s home or business. The goal is to get a response from a SWAT team — hence the name “swatting.”
While swatting may seem like harmless fun, it can have serious consequences. First, the police and emergency responders who go to the scene of the fake crime are tied up — making them unavailable in the event that a real emergency happens. Second, the victims of swatting may be injured by the police response. For example, if a swatter sends the police to a person’s home, claiming that there is a hostage situation, the police may become aggressive towards the victim, believing them to be the perpetrator of a crime. Just having a law enforcement officers — with weapons — go to someone’s home or business, believing that a crime is underway, can be incredibly dangerous.
We know that swatting isn’t just a prank — but is it a crime? According to a criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles, CA, it may be, depending on the facts of the case. Under California law, it is a crime to make a false 911 call. Specifically, you can be charged with this crime to report or cause a report to be made to certain government agencies that an emergency exists, knowing that this report is false.
False 911 calls are charged as misdemeanors if they person who made the call knows that the report is false. The punishment for this crime is up to 1 year in county jail and/or a $1,000 fine. If the person who makes the call not only knows that the report is false, but either knows or should know that the emergency response is likely result in great bodily injury or death, and this result does occur, then it will be charged as a felony. The punishment for a felony is up to 3 years in county jail and/or a $10,000 fine. You could also be responsible for the reasonable costs of any emergency response.
So if you engage in swatting, you could be charged with a felony or misdemeanor crime — and spend 1 to 3 years in jail as a result. In addition, even if you don’t call 911, but instead make a false police report, you could be charged with a misdemeanor crime and sent to jail for up to 6 months.
You should never “swat” anyone, or otherwise make a fake 911 call. If you are charged with this offense, however, a criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles, CA can defend you against the charges. There are a number of potential defenses to this crime, including that you held a good faith belief that the report was true when you made the call.
At the Chambers Law Firm, we represent individuals who have been charged with California criminal offenses. To schedule a free initial consultation, contact our office today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com.
