We are sidetracking on the subject of SWATing.
What happens if people DO start calling in every sighting?
Lets do some math - I get somebody in nearly every week on average. If just one other patron calls, that's 52 calls a year. If he stops at another store or gas station on his way home, another 52 calls a year. Now we have an additional 100 call-OUTs for police to respond to. Mandatory.
Add another nine who might OC, that's ONE THOUSAND call outs a year. Just ten can create over 1,000 incidents a year.
What would be the Police reaction? 1) Bust every one of the ten and get a collectively big lawsuit for depriving them of their statutory rights, or 2) start prosecuting the false callers?
The second option is more likely less risky to lose in court.
As we see any incidence of SWATing go up, we will see a police reaction. No doubt. They can't be on callouts three times a day, people tend to shop at the same times and a team can't be in three different locations at the same time.
Our metro has 1 - one - team and it's NOT on standby suited up 24/7 - that can't happen. It's composed of officers who work different shifts, some get pulled off the streets, others remodeling the house on their off time, or from their kids athletic event. While the on duty uniforms bottle up the perp - the SWAT team has to drive to the team house, gear up, and then travel to the site.
It takes a really big metro to afford having four teams - with one on standby suited up for 8 hours five times a week ready to go on a moment's notice.
The more the anti gunners call it in, the more it DOESN'T work. They aren't going to be making any friends in the squad room, and their supervisors right up thru city councilman will be feeling the heat from the ranks.
They already have their hands full of barking dogs, neighbors parking where they feel like, etc. A metro of 250,000 daytime population can't go on 1,000 callouts a year.
Then there is the "Cry Wolf" issue - and the other unintended consequence. When someone who does discern it really it a Bad Guy and he is entering the back door of a movie theatre, for instance. It's now one of one thousand calls a year.
Anybody starting to sense how stupid the campaign is? It's not only not going to work, it's going to create a lot more problems for the PD's and the lessons learned will rapidly spread as the liability experts in the department get a handle on how things will go badly if it's not handled properly. And that includes stemming the false reports.
I suspect that the word is already going out to those anti gun organization to cool it. Stupid idea and regardless of how that local PD chief may agree with them, the logistical and financial impact is not going to be tolerated.
And there's another unintended consequence - like, lawyers looking at SWATing victims as a new source of revenue. There's the caller to sue, their insurance company has deep pockets, the PD for poorly handling the case, that's another revenue source, and if there is any link to an organization - "I attended a meeting and they handed out a flyer on how to do it," you get another lawsuit.
That is so going to happen. At that point it's going National News with NRA spokemen being taken out of context and more demonstrations - more OC to provoke more calls just to start another lawsuit.
This will all wind down pretty quickly because so many will work to prevent it all from happening in the intelligently run districts. Newark or otherwise will keep on keepin on.
It might happen to somebody, sure. We already have three million incidents of a firearm being displayed to ward off thugs already, the odds are much higher you get accosted than SWATted. And that is why you carry, regardless. Not worrying over whether somebody hotlines you for doing it. You already know how to respond to the Police, just grin and have a good time with the arresting officer. Don't forget to thank him for doing his job, he just got you and your lawyer a ticket to somebody's bank account.
Get your head around it and it's not all that.
