Governor Rick Snyder Signs Rep. Heise's Anti-Swatting Bill
The bill makes the penalty for 'swatting' incidents stiffer in Michigan.
Anonymous tipsters giving false information about emergencies to police departments – who respond by sending out SWAT teams – has become increasingly popular, to the chagrin of law enforcement. Michigan now has a law on the books to increase penalties for "swatting." The swatting pranks cost governments a lot of money, state Rep. Kurt Heise (R-Plymouth) said in a press release. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed a Heise-sponsored anti-swatting bill into law Tuesday. Swatting is a new crime in which people use the Internet to report a non-existent crime in progress. Typically, tipsters use the Internet to make false emergency phone calls to 911 centers, in the hopes of getting a SWAT team or other first responders to show up at a person's …
