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This is a problem technology can help with. Emergency dispatchers could at least verify that any cellular call came from a tower near the supposed address or a

This is a problem technology can help with. Emergency dispatchers could at least verify that any cellular call came from a tower near the supposed address or a landline call is nearby. I'm not saying police shouldn't respond if the call comes from an IP gateway or a different state - but dispatch should tell them confidence is low and in that case police could approach the scene much more skeptically.

dzhiurgis 5y ago
Maybe ask caller to connect via FaceTime or similar for serious cases? IIRC most phones already share precise caller location when calling 911. Everything else should be treated as spam.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > Maybe ask caller to connect via FaceTime or similar for serious cases? IIRC most phones already share precise caller location when calling 911. Everything else should be treated as spam. That obviously won't work, because you can't expect people in legitimate emergencies to do something like that. Say they don't even have one of those apps installed, is the 911 dispatcher supposed to talk them through installing Zoom before they send help? That's literally a Kafkaesque nightmare (or straight out of a political attack ad). Honestly, I think the most realistic way to solve this is my making investigations into SWATing really high priority (e.g. dedicated FBI people investigating these crimes), and then handing out heavy, punitive sentences as a deterrent. The only reason anyone does this is they think they can get away with it (and often do). I think it'd stop once that impression is changed.
  - dzhiurgis 5y ago
    Don't know much about Android but every iPhone comes out of the box with it. And it shouldn't even be an option, but default. Like smartphone makers should enforce this. Probably require you to stream from both cameras.
    - tablespoon 5y ago
      > Don't know much about Android but every iPhone comes out of the box with it. And it shouldn't even be an option, but default. Like smartphone makers should enforce this. Probably require you to stream from both cameras. It's just a terrible idea. I'm guessing it took less than a minute to come up with it, and you spent that time thinking of reasons to support it and almost no time thinking about the problems with it. It's just that bad. Some obvious problems: 1. You didn't consider the most popular smartphone OS at all. 2. Not everyone has a smartphone. 3. Not everyone who has a smartphone knows how to use all the apps on it, or can figure a new one out in a stressful situation. 4. How exactly do you think someone who's actually being threatened would prove it to the police over a video call (reveal their hiding place to take video of the perp with the gun)? 5. Don't you think the SWATter (or whatever you call them) could fake a video call using some accepted service, like they already fake phone calls? 6. What if there's no data at their location, or the signal is too poor for video but good enough for voice (like my parents' basement)? 7. Etc. (I could go on, but I think I proved my point)
      - verve_rat 5y ago
        8. They are using a landline.
        dzhiurgis 5y ago
        If they call landline you already know precise location…
        kwhitefoot 5y ago
        Does this apply to VOIP? A lot of POTS phones here in Norway are plugged into the network router not a physical landline.
        sgerenser 5y ago
        Definitely not the case with VOIP. I had a case where a roommate in college had to call 911 on our VOIP phone (bad cell service in the house) and we were connected to a dispatcher in a different state (where I had lived previously). I doubt if most people remember to update their location with the VOIP provider when they move.
- dkdbejwi383 5y ago
  "I think someone is robbing my house, I'm currently hiding in the attic" "Great, let me send you a calendar invite for a Microsoft Teams meeting. Can you do 13:30? Oh no wait, my supervisor has a clash then... how about 14:45?"

dzhiurgis 5y ago

Maybe ask caller to connect via FaceTime or similar for serious cases? IIRC most phones already share precise caller location when calling 911. Everything else should be treated as spam.

tablespoon 5y ago
> Maybe ask caller to connect via FaceTime or similar for serious cases? IIRC most phones already share precise caller location when calling 911. Everything else should be treated as spam. That obviously won't work, because you can't expect people in legitimate emergencies to do something like that. Say they don't even have one of those apps installed, is the 911 dispatcher supposed to talk them through installing Zoom before they send help? That's literally a Kafkaesque nightmare (or straight out of a political attack ad). Honestly, I think the most realistic way to solve this is my making investigations into SWATing really high priority (e.g. dedicated FBI people investigating these crimes), and then handing out heavy, punitive sentences as a deterrent. The only reason anyone does this is they think they can get away with it (and often do). I think it'd stop once that impression is changed.
- dzhiurgis 5y ago
  Don't know much about Android but every iPhone comes out of the box with it. And it shouldn't even be an option, but default. Like smartphone makers should enforce this. Probably require you to stream from both cameras.
  - tablespoon 5y ago
    > Don't know much about Android but every iPhone comes out of the box with it. And it shouldn't even be an option, but default. Like smartphone makers should enforce this. Probably require you to stream from both cameras. It's just a terrible idea. I'm guessing it took less than a minute to come up with it, and you spent that time thinking of reasons to support it and almost no time thinking about the problems with it. It's just that bad. Some obvious problems: 1. You didn't consider the most popular smartphone OS at all. 2. Not everyone has a smartphone. 3. Not everyone who has a smartphone knows how to use all the apps on it, or can figure a new one out in a stressful situation. 4. How exactly do you think someone who's actually being threatened would prove it to the police over a video call (reveal their hiding place to take video of the perp with the gun)? 5. Don't you think the SWATter (or whatever you call them) could fake a video call using some accepted service, like they already fake phone calls? 6. What if there's no data at their location, or the signal is too poor for video but good enough for voice (like my parents' basement)? 7. Etc. (I could go on, but I think I proved my point)
    - verve_rat 5y ago
      8. They are using a landline.
      - dzhiurgis 5y ago
        If they call landline you already know precise location…
        kwhitefoot 5y ago
        Does this apply to VOIP? A lot of POTS phones here in Norway are plugged into the network router not a physical landline.
        sgerenser 5y ago
        Definitely not the case with VOIP. I had a case where a roommate in college had to call 911 on our VOIP phone (bad cell service in the house) and we were connected to a dispatcher in a different state (where I had lived previously). I doubt if most people remember to update their location with the VOIP provider when they move.
dkdbejwi383 5y ago
"I think someone is robbing my house, I'm currently hiding in the attic" "Great, let me send you a calendar invite for a Microsoft Teams meeting. Can you do 13:30? Oh no wait, my supervisor has a clash then... how about 14:45?"