Seattle Police Department introduces system to prevent swatting
It's been around for a while, but the problem of swatting - the practice of deliberately calling police to someone's house - has only grown in recent years. It's a harassment tactic which people have used to target streamers in the hope they'll be arrested mid-stream.
Although some consider it a prank, the reality is much more serious - particularly if you live in America, where most police carry firearms. Only last year, Call of Duty streamer Andrew Finch was shot and killed due to a hoax call on his house in which the caller claimed Finch had killed his father and was holding hostages.
Swatting is very much a consequence of the information age we find ourselves in. The stream-swatting phenomenon, in particular, has only been made possible due to new broadcast technology which didn't exist a mere ten years ago. It's somewhat unsurprising that the police have been left playing catch-up. Until now, that is.
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