The whole thing smells like a system that can't deal with bogus inputs. It's understandable that police want to prepare for the worst, but surely it's a "trust

The whole thing smells like a system that can't deal with bogus inputs. It's understandable that police want to prepare for the worst, but surely it's a "trust but verify" kind of situation. A swat team that charges in, guns drawn, even without any sign of a threat seems like a fire department that turns on the hoses before they've seen smoke or flame. Then of course, after the police work out a response plan that can cope with bad inputs, step 2 is they need to tell everyone about it. The expectation that cops will point ten guns at anyone you ask them to is the reason swatting is a thing at all.