Swatting Callers Could Pay For Emergency Response In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — After swatting calls to several Alexandria schools in one day, City Council could look to seek reimbursement from suspects for responses to these types of false threats or emergencies.

The proposal draws from a Virginia law allowing collection up to $2,500 from suspects convicted for false reports of terrorism, bomb threats, malicious fire alarm activations and false emergencies. The reimbursement from the suspect would go toward the cost of providing law enforcement, firefighters and EMS for responses to false emergencies.

City Council gave first reading approval to the proposal on Tuesday and will have final approval on Feb. 24.

Since April 2020, there have been at least 25 false emergencies drawing a response from first responders. In January, swatting calls with false threats affected several Alexandria public schools. Earlier that month, a swatting caller claimed a false shooting at a home.

"Such false reports also divert time spent by emergency personnel from productively serving the Alexandria community because they are forced to respond to fabricated emergencies," reads a city staff memo to City Council. "Finally, these calls can be used to harm and harass individuals located at the site of where the emergency is being reported. For example, there have been several instances in which individuals likely called the City from out of state and posed as someone present during the commission of a violent crime within the City, eliciting a potentially high alert emergency response in locations occupied by unsuspecting, innocent individuals."

The $2,500 cap may not end up being the limit on reimbursement for false threats. According to the city staff memo, the Virginia General Assembly is considering a bill to remove the $2,500 reimbursement cap for adults convicted of a violation. The city's ordinance is drafted to reflect any changes to the reimbursement cap.