State lawmakers are hopeful their proactive measures will keep ‘swatting’ at bay

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Amid the recent flurry of high-profile false reports to police across the nation, Indiana lawmakers are hopeful that they’ve created a deterrent legal structure that would keep so-called “swatting” incidents at bay.

Although Indiana has not been the target of a prominent swatting event in recent years, the implementation of new, heavy-hitting regulations is intended to make sure it stays that way. With the passing of Senate Bill 198 earlier this year, merely causing a law enforcement officer to be dispatched from a false report could land a caller behind bars.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines swatting as a tactic of making hoax calls or reports to emergency services, typically claiming an immediate threat to life and intended to draw a large response from law enforcement to an unsuspecting victim’s location, causing chaos and even potentially violence.

“Just making the call to me is egregious and shouldn’t happen,” said Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, the author of SB 198, in an interview. “In my view, Indiana law should reflect that that should be a crime.”

The new Indiana law, an update from 2024 legislation, specifies that the crime of false reporting includes causing a law enforcement officer to be dispatched.

“I hope that we can all agree that there’s just, there are lines, and this line is the one that should never be crossed,” Freeman said. “This is dangerous, right? I mean, it’s flat out dangerous.”

The dangers

Freeman expressed concerns for anyone involved, saying officers shouldn’t have to be put into situations to make split-second decisions when it’s unnecessary and puts others at risk.

“They think they have a job to do, and they go knocking on the door, or busting the door down, or whatever they’re doing to save life…And you got a four-year-old at home,” he said. “I would hope people could all agree there is a way to communicate a message, there is a way to protest, there is a way to disseminate
your message, and this isn’t it.”

Another worry raised by law enforcement is that swatting could detract officers from real, threatening calls.

“Just remember, by making this call, you’re putting yourself at risk,” Fort Wayne Police Department Sgt. Jonathan Cutler told Fort Wayne-based television station WANE. “You’re putting other people at risk. And we might not be there for somebody who needs us, because we’re off chasing this wild goose.”

How much of a concern is it?

Freeman’s legislation was a proactive measure because swatting is not currently a large issue in Indiana, according to the state police.

“Thankfully, ‘swatting’ is not something we have much experience with,” said Indiana State Police Office Sgt. John Perrine. “I’m not sure how common it is in Indiana, but I don’t have any experience or knowledge of ISP responding to or assisting with a call like this.”

Similarly, the Evansville and South Bend Police Departments have had little to no experience dealing with swatting incidents, spokespersons for both departments said. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department declined an interview request.

The Fort Wayne Police Department, on the other hand, has seen about six reports of swatting this year, according to a report by WANE.

So when he was developing the bill, Freeman said he was not prompted by any one specific incident in the state; rather, he was alarmed by the growing concern of swatting across the country.

Last month, about a dozen universities and colleges across the country were the target of fake calls reporting active shooter alerts on campus, leading to law enforcement being deployed, students going into lockdown and a disruption of campus activities.

On Aug. 22, the University of Tennessee Chattanooga made headlines for an active shooter situation that left faculty, students and their families in disarray; campus operations were shut down for the day.

The following week, several other colleges across the nation faced similar threats, including Indiana’s neighbor to the south, the University of Kentucky.

“We understand the unease these incidents create,” the University of Kentucky stated in a press release. “The safety of our campus is our top priority.”

But unlike what resulted at UT Chattanooga, the UK Police Department determined the report was a hoax quickly enough to avoid sending mass alerts and shutting down the campus.

“After the call was received, UKPD immediately assessed our robust campus camera system, which consists of over 4,000 cameras, and determined that there was no threat to campus,” the university wrote. “Officers then arrived on the scene in under two minutes to further confirm that this report was a hoax. UK Alerts are only sent in the event of credible emergencies that require our campus community to take action. Our quick response time and technology enabled UKPD to determine that this was a hoax nearly immediately; therefore, no UK Alert was sent.”

Hard to track

Swatting in the nation is difficult to track as the FBI’s crime data explorer does not include a section for false reporting or swatting, but the chief of the bureau’s Criminal Justice Information Services told NBC News in 2023 that the agency had formed a national online database to facilitate information sharing on swatting incidents between hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the nation.

A spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security said it does not handle reports of swatting, and FBI Indianapolis did not respond to The Indiana Lawyer’s request for comment.

State universities also do not appear to include swatting-specific statistics.

At Indiana University Bloomington, in 2023, there were 13 unfounded crimes, meaning that a crime reported to campus security authority was later determined to have been false or baseless when made. Whether any of those incidents includes a specific swatting call is not clear; the university did not respond to The Lawyer’s requests for comment.

Mark Apple, spokesman for Butler University, said in an email that the school has not received any swatting calls but is aware of the surge elsewhere. He said the FBI is working with Butler and other universities in preparing an action plan in case it is needed.

The University of Notre Dame did not immediately respond to interview requests on this issue. A Purdue University spokesperson declined to comment.

Sgt. Anthony Aussieker, the public information officer for the Evansville Police Department, said his department currently has no real way to track hoax calls.

“It’s hard to prove the malicious intent,” Aussieker told The Lawyer.

The toll

Because it’s difficult to immediately sift the fake calls from the real ones, officers at the Evansville Police Department are trained to respond to false reports “as if it’s real all the time,” Aussieker said.

For instance, the Evansville SWAT team once responded to a home on the assumption of a dangerous situation. But upon arrival, it was determined to be a hoax call, with officers arriving just to find a family, not a threat.

A response like that incites huge stress factors for not only the civilians at the receiving end of a swat, but also for the officers.

“It does take a toll on them,” Aussieker said.•