Schumer: 'Swatting' Attacks On Dramatic Rise Across Central NY -- Recent Attack Caused Evacuation Of Over 1100 Workers At John H. Mulroy Civic Center, Edward Kochian County Office Building And JobsPlus!; Incidents Are Costing Police Depts. Thousands Of Dollars, Terrifying Innocent Victims & Even Endangering Lives -- Schumer Introduces New Federal Bill To Crack Down On 'Swatting' & Deter Alarming New Crime Trend Threatening Residents & Law Enforcement

Press Release

Today, at John H. Mulroy Civic Center, standing alongside police officers dispatched to a recent false threat, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced his recently introduced legislation that will crack down on an alarming new nationwide crime trend called "swatting," which has recently emerged as a problem in Central New York. Schumer explained that "swatting" is an incident in which a phone call is made reporting a fake threat in an effort to have police SWAT teams respond to an unsuspecting resident's home. Schumer said these false alerts are not only terrifying residents, but they are also costing law enforcement thousands of dollars and putting at risk both first responders and innocent bystanders. Because these false threats often precipitate SWAT responses that require the deployment of armed SWAT teams, bomb squads and other police units, "swatting" calls can lead to temporary street closures that result in local business loss, terrifying experiences for residents and bystanders and can cost police departments thousands of taxpayer dollars. Schumer said that there have been three recent "swatting" attacks in and around Syracuse, including one last week that resulted in the evacuation of over 1,100 workers at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center, Edward Kochian County Office Building, and Jobsplus!. Schumer said communities are at great risk if nothing is done to stem this scourge of attacks. Schumer therefore discussed legislation he recently introduced that would increase penalties for perpetrators and make criminals pay restitution to police.

"These dangerous actions are not "pranks' at all -- these "swatting' attacks are serious incidents in which our emergency responders use up their time, energy, and resources responding to false threats when they could have been elsewhere protecting the community from real ones. What the perpetrators of these calls see as a practical joke is actually a terrifying experience for innocent bystanders, a business-detractor for local commerce, and a costly crime that forces our local emergency responders to use up thousands of taxpayer dollars on fake alerts. That's why I am pushing legislation that will increase the jail time for "swatting' perpetrators, force them to pay restitution for the cost of investigating fake calls, and I am pushing for legislation that will close the existing loophole on internet phone calls to make disguising your caller ID to law enforcement a crime," said Schumer. "We need to make sure that every time a 9-1-1 dispatcher answers a call that it is a real emergency, and we need to stop this disturbing trend before it is too late and someone gets seriously hurt."

Schumer said that there have been at least three Syracuse area "swatting" attacks in recent years and communities will continue to be at great risk if nothing is done to stem this scourge of perpetrators. Schumer said that is why he introduced legislation that would seek to reduce the number of "swatting" attacks. Last week, there was one incident that resulted in the evacuation of over 1,100 workers at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center, Edward Kochian County Office Building, and Jobsplus! Several local streets near the civic center were closed while law enforcement and K-9 crews scoured the building. Only after these units, including the Onondaga and surrounding County Sheriff's Offices, searched the building for hours was it realized there was no imminent threat. Schumer said local police officers reported that the emergency response, cost the department time and money when they could have been responding to other crimes and emergencies.

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