emergency call day
Wrong emergency call: When the task force suddenly comes to the house
Anyone who misuses the emergency call and triggers a large-scale police operation must expect a prison sentence of up to one year
A fake emergency call that triggers a large-scale police operation – such a bad prank can lead not only to penalties, but also to real danger. One term keeps making the rounds: “swatting”.
Suddenly, the police raid squad arrived at a Frankfurt mosque. One or more strangers had sounded the alarm via an emergency call app because of an alleged killing spree. There was talk of injuries – and the police said that several people were still being held by the perpetrator. The emergency services were then on site with a large contingent. But there is no sign of a dangerous situation. Instead, on that Friday in January, children, among others, were in the Abu Bakr Mosque.
Every emergency call is treated “as if it were a real emergency”
“Basically, every alarm is treated as if it were a real emergency,” says a police spokesman. Based on the report, there was a serious suspicion that the situation could be an act of armed violence. For some children, the use of the armed commandos was a traumatizing experience, according to Mohammed Seddadi, chairman of the mosque in the Hausen district. On the other hand, he was grateful that the police came so quickly.
It was initially unclear who triggered the false alarm. “Investigations are ongoing. Criminal charges have been filed for misusing emergency calls and faking a crime,” says the Frankfurt police. The motive is unclear and it is determined in all directions.
In connection with fake emergency calls, the term “swatting” keeps making the rounds. Such “pranks” are not unheard of in the online gaming scene. Someone sets off a false alarm so that the police or fire brigade and rescue services storm someone else’s house – preferably when the victim is still sitting live in front of their webcam.
The term comes from SWAT, the US special forces “Special Weapons and Tactics”. “Swatting” is particularly common in the USA. In the state of Kansas there was even a case in 2017 in which an innocent 27-year-old was shot by a police officer during the operation. When an emergency call was made, a hostage-taking had been faked. The police, who were thereby lured to the alleged scene of the crime, then shot dead an innocent family man whom they believed to be the hostage-taker.
Abuse of emergency calls tends to increase
And how is it in this country? Have such cases increased in recent years? “The phenomenon of “swatting” as such is not recorded by the police,” says the Frankfurt police. However, in 2021 there were 172 cases of misuse of emergency calls in the Main metropolis. This phenomenon is currently tending to increase, says a police spokesman. According to crime statistics, there were 515 cases in Hesse in 2021.
A firefighter in the rescue control center, where the emergency calls come in
© Bodo Schackow/dpa
A few years ago, a trial in Bavaria made headlines that also involved “swatting”. In 2015, more than 100 firefighters suddenly stood in front of a YouTuber’s house in Middle Franconia. The user named “Dragon Lord” was live on YouTube when the doorbell rang. His case was the first of its kind in Germany to go to court. The accused was sentenced to more than three years in prison, including for the abuse of emergency calls.
And last fall, a larger operation was triggered in Potsdam (Brandenburg). An unknown had called several police stations and claimed that an unconscious person with a knife in his back was lying in his apartment. The forces moved out, and an emergency doctor made his way. On site, the rescuers met a man who, according to the police, was visibly irritated by the “consequent intervention”. It turned out that the emergency services had been tricked.
“Not a trivial offense, but a crime”
The intentional misuse of emergency calls “is not a trivial offense, but a criminal offense,” according to the State Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden. He is sentenced to up to a year in prison or a fine. It is also dangerous that the forces are not available for “real emergencies” during the operation.
How exactly do the alleged perpetrators proceed? According to the LKA, some would misuse the so-called call ID spoofing technology or data of third parties when calling the operations centers. This technique describes the manipulation of a telephone number so that a false number is displayed and the identity of the real caller is disguised.
First aid
How to react in an emergency
But emergency call apps for smartphones are also used. “For example, the Nora app was used in various federal states to trigger large-scale operations by police and rescue workers,” it says. According to the investigators, this app was also used in the current case in the Frankfurt mosque.
Incidentally, two days after the incident in the church, Frankfurt’s chief of police, Stefan Müller, personally came to the Muslim community to explain the operation. “The talks were very positive,” said mosque chairman Seddadi.