ORLANDO, Fla. — According to retired FBI agent Richard Frankel, prank calls to 911, known as “swatting calls” were different not too long ago.
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“It first started where it was little kids making phony phone calls,” he said.
Now, Frankel said, it’s much more dangerous and it’s happening more often.
“They’re saying, ‘Hey these people have guns, they’re terrorists, they’re drug dealers, they’re going to kill somebody,’” Frankel said. “It’s putting both the police and the person in the house in danger. “All the sudden you have police going to a shooting situation, going to a house where somebody’s in there and not expecting the police.”
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Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said there have been three false reports in the past two weeks, the most recent happened Wednesday.
Deputies said an 11-year-old-girl sent a series of text messages warning dispatchers an armed driver had kidnapped someone and was heading south on Interstate 95.
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said they’ve had one swatting call this year, prompting a significant response.
In an effort to prevent the calls, the FBI created a national database back in May to track them.
Since the database launched, it’s tracked 129 swatting incidents around the country, which has been key in stopping swatting the calls that aren’t easy to track.
Making a swatting call could result in you facing several felony charges. Even if charges aren’t filed, Frankel said prosecuting those cases can be difficult because it’s not always easy to know where the calls are coming from or who is making them.
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