Crime Stoppers Offers Reward For Swatting Information

Crime Stoppers of Monmouth County is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in recent swatting cases.

Swatting is act of making a false report that prompts a large-scale police response, and schools in Holmdel and Princeton have been targeted repeatedly this spring.

In Holmdel, the school board recently voted to allow police to “patrol and be present at” local schools during the school day for the rest of the school year.

Earlier this week, the Ocean County Courthouse in Toms River, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and schools in Cranford, Princeton, Cresskill and West Milford may have been the victims of swatting.

The Crime Stoppers notice says “Monmouth County, NJ, along with many other jurisdictions around the country, has been victim to numerous “SWATTING” incidents.”

“While these “swatters” think it is fun to cause chaos in our community, in reality they threaten the safety of our citizens, responding police officers and firefighters. It has to stop,’’ Crime Stoppers said on its Facebook page.

Anyone with information about swatters is asked to call the organization.

According to Crime Stoppers, the organization will “pay up to $5,000 for information that leads to the identification, arrest and prosecution of any suspect(s) in these False Public Alarm Incidents.”

All tipsters remain anonymous. To provide a tip, call 1-800-671-4400 or text “MONMOUTH” and your tip or 274637 (CRIMES.)

Katharine Friedman contributed to this story.

Photo courtesy Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office