Two bills making their way through the California Legislature aim to increase penalties for “swatting” crimes and eliminate loopholes that keep authorities from prosecuting incidents in the state.
Swatting typically involves prank calls to law enforcement that trigger a large number of armed police officers sent to a particular address.
While it’s already a crime in California to make a false emergency report that’s likely to cause great bodily harm, the threat must be directed at a specific person. State law does not cover threats against schools, religious institutions, and other public spaces.
Assembly Bill 237 and Senate Bill 19 are intended to fix that, according to lawmakers….