WRPS respond to over a dozen false ‘swatting’ calls since March

Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) have responded to multiple false calls over the last several months that were placed to evoke an emergency response.

Police said there have been 18 different “swatting” calls since March.

They had to respond to one call as recently as this week on Canada Day, after receiving word of a potential mass shooting that was going to take place in Victoria Park, which ended up being a fake call.

WRPS Police Chief Mark Crowell was on The Mike Farwell Show for the Ask the Chief hour on July 2 and said officials are concerned about what’s happening.

“Where we have seen this evolving over the past number of years is the advance of technology. So now, people are using different forms of identity masking; they can be calling from all areas of the globe to report a false emergency here,” he said.

Crowell said the calls create a huge disruption to their communication system because of the alarm bells they set off; he maintained fake or false swatting calls are an issue for any police unit in the country because it diverts resources away from real emergencies that need them.

In addition, Crowell said the calls can often contain localized, specific information that gives cause for concern, or they can be specific enough that they have to be taken as real, causing WRPS to send officers for an emergency response.

“It’s akin to domestic terrorism,” said Crowell. “It can cause a major panic within a community if it’s false information. And so, it is very challenging for our members. I want to give kudos to our incredible communicators, dispatchers, call takers and those who respond.”