Wednesday, July 20, 2011
SWATTING Comes To The 'Burgh
SWATTNG, you say? What the heck is SWATTING?
it involves calling 9-1-1 and faking an emergency that draws a response from law enforcement—usually a SWAT team.
Yesterday in Green Tree:
Green Tree police Lt. Chad Rannigan said police received a 911 call about 11:30 a.m. from a man with a foreign accent who said he was holding hostages at 1118 Greentree Road. He said the man was demanding a ransom or he would begin shooting hostages.
After surveying the home, setting up a command post at a nearby church and blocking traffic into the area, Allegheny County police deployed a robot and found no sign of anyone inside.
About 2:30 p.m., officers with the Critical Incident Response Team then entered and verified the house was empty.
it involves calling 9-1-1 and faking an emergency that draws a response from law enforcement—usually a SWAT team.
Yesterday in Green Tree:
Green Tree police Lt. Chad Rannigan said police received a 911 call about 11:30 a.m. from a man with a foreign accent who said he was holding hostages at 1118 Greentree Road. He said the man was demanding a ransom or he would begin shooting hostages.
After surveying the home, setting up a command post at a nearby church and blocking traffic into the area, Allegheny County police deployed a robot and found no sign of anyone inside.
About 2:30 p.m., officers with the Critical Incident Response Team then entered and verified the house was empty.
Deploying SWAT teams, calling out the bomb squad, and shutting down roads involves a pretty significant cost to the taxpayers, but more importantly, consider the public safetly angle. Officers and other resources are being drawn away from their regular duties. Any emergency response involves a degree of risk, to officers and the public, as teams deploy to where there may be a life threatening situation. Hopefully they find the dork responsible for this hoax and throw the book at him.
