Police were dispatched toward Smith’s residence but were called off when they learned it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump in two federal cases, was the target of an attempted swatting at his Maryland residence on Christmas Day.
According to two law enforcement sources, someone called 911 and said that Smith had shot his wife at the address where Smith lives.
Montgomery County Police dispatched units toward the home but were called off when the Deputy U.S. Marshals protecting Smith and his family told police that it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.
No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.
I think it’s awful, but how do you suggest making changes? The only thing I can think of is tracking 9-1-1 calls, but doing more of that discourages people from anonymously calling in emergencies, which could lead to more deaths.
Er… What? You think they can’t or don’t already track 911 calls? How do emergency responders give where you are if you can’t actually talk while on the phone, like if you’re hiding from an intruder in your house?
Calling in a fictional emergency needs punishment. The alternative is wasting emergency service time with impunity, having them off chasing wild geese while someone with a real emergency is dying.
Edit: And yes, this is already illegal and has already resulted in arrests in the real world: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/the-crime-of-swatting-fake-9-1-1-calls-have-real-consequences1
It just needs to be enforced.
911 calls are tracked. Listen to your local police scanner. Even if someone calls and immediately hangs up, they have a pretty good idea where that person was calling from.
I think @MagicShel meant we should actually use the information we already have, and prosecute it like the attempted murder that it is.
Can’t. It’s encrypted.
Encrypted? Or digital? I thought the one here was because all you could hear was what sounded like modem static when someone keyed up. Turns out it was just a digital “encryption” that could be defeated with a $20 baofeng radio.
There are however a few places that are straight up encrypted with their own keys, and not much you can do about that.
Last time I called 9-1-1 they confirmed my location, and name without me telling them who, or where I was calling from.
9-1-1 only cares about getting help to the scene. AND, if being anonymous is an issue for you, use burners.
At a minimum tell the responding officers that the call was anonymous and hasn’t been verified. I don’t know beyond that. Remove anonymity but also seal the records automatically to be unsealed only if the call itself is a crime? But we’ve had a long time to deal with this and think about solutions, and it’s hard to believe we’ve not come up with a single way to address the issue.
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It actually could be very hard to find the perpetrator with overseas VPNs and VOIP phone numbers that can be spoofed.
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Dude I knew about that stuff before most people in the world, 20 years ago.
VPNs can still make users anonymous, regardless of all the above. They are not cracking strong encryption in those tunnels, and overseas VPN providers can provide anonymizing VPN services that they won’t be able to trace. There may actually be nothing they can do about it.
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