Seattle police register potential ‘swatting’ targets

Seattle police are registering people who fear they may be victims of swatting so that they can respond appropriately. Swatting is passing on false information with the aim of, for example, having a Swat team turn out.

Seattle police say they have received requests from citizens who fear they could be targeted for swatting. These people can now indicate in a system that they could potentially be confronted with swatting.

The Rave Facility system is used, which is actually intended for companies. This system contains information about addresses. If the police receive a phone call about a certain address via the emergency number, all kinds of information can be consulted via that system.

Users who want to sign up must register as a company, but filling in the household name is enough, the police say. Users can then enter ‘swatting concerns’ in a free text field.

Swatting is a criminal offense and is particularly common among gamers or other people who livestream on the Internet. Malicious persons who have the address of the streamer make an anonymous phone call to the authorities and say, for example, that there is a hostage situation at the address. Last year, an innocent gamer in Kansas was killed when he was shot by police. As far as we know, Seattle is the first city in America to take such precautions.