So many replies here are blaming the police but despite how screwed up the situation is there isn’t much they can do. Not responding to a swat call is not really an option with the way the system is setup.

We can all say “well, if you get many calls about one location, maybe you should stop showing up” but wtf are you supposed to do if a real crime is being committed? The same couple getting swatted one day could get criminals breaking in another, possibly for the same reason even. How can you make the call not to show up if your entire existence and role in society is to show up?

What real solutions are there?

Edit: a bunch of identical responses to this comment with "just don't show up". I know it's easy to sit and judge from the comfort of your keyboard, but do a little bit of thinking. What should the rule be? When is it okay for police to receive a distress call and not show up in actual reality with actual lives at stake? Who's responsible for the consequences of not showing up?

Edit2: now people switched to "show up, but softer, knock on the door". Now we can agree, because this comment is about showing up, not about specifics. Yeah, more considerate approach is warranted. But also keep in mind the other side of it, it's still an alarm and it could still be real, and police still have to be mind-f'ed into figuring out every time if this is a real danger or not.

Edit3: People who say "police can catch the callers" and suggest other triumphant movie-esque feats make me feel like we need an article "Falsehoods programmers believe about police".

This is an amazing top comment. Like maybe almost anything. So many better options. For one if I were the subject of this harassment I would prefer the cops to never come.

> What real solutions are there?

For starters, in the general case, try having a larger threshold to go in guns blazing, like trying to verify with the residents first, or just knocking on their door normally to address whatever it was instead of a full on raid. The trauma of being subjected to a SWAT raid is obvious, so they should recognize that and more properly balance it with the harm of not doing one, rather than simply doing it.

Looking at the article's specifics for this specific situation, some options are:

- don't violate the constitutional rights of the victims as a court ruled retroactively happened in this case

- ensure that all officers are professional, as the article says that only some were

- add them to the swatting house list

- have basic dignity, like facilitating the person covering up instead of cuffing them naked on the curb; police and prisons seem especially happy to engage in forced nudity in a general case -- it's part of a concerningly high fraction of police abuse news

After the first 40 false calls about that address they should probably perform at least 5 minutes of investigation to try to verify if there are actually any signs that a real crime being committed. That kind of "police work" where you figure out who is in the home and what is happening is pretty important.

At the very least if they want to keep violating the rights of the people in their home by breaking in, after seeing that there's no obvious signs of crime they should probably not immediately drag people outside naked and handcuffed.

I'll give these cops some credit though, at least they managed to raid the correct house 55 times in a row. I don't know who trained these SWAT officers to read house numbers, but they should probably pass that info along considering the countless stories of police raiding the wrong home.

> wtf are you supposed to do if a real crime is being committed

You say that as if most of the world doesn’t get by just fine without any militarized SWAT law enforcement units whatsoever…

Well before the 55th call they should have started investigating the origin of those calls and find the people making them. I'm not familiar with the US jurisdictions so maybe they are outside the one of Milwaukee police, but the people making those calls are toying with the Milwaukee police too, not only with the two victims. Then there are Federal investigations. Eventually that cost Milwaukee half a million.

> What real solutions are there?

See what is the reaction to the 3rd SWAT call for the local police dept's boss' home. Then apply that to everyone. I'm absolutely sure they can figure that one out.

>isn’t much they can do

How about: Track down and identify the person making these calls?

>Not responding to a swat call is not really an option with the way the system is setup.

This is 100% not true in the US. The police have no obligation to show up what so ever as decided by the SCOTUS.

>ne day could get criminals breaking in another

And like in every large city they'll get put on hold when calling 911 and maybe the cops show up 30 minutes later.

> not show up in actual reality with actual lives at stake?

As they say, when seconds matter, help is 15 to 20 minutes away.

Investigating and solving the real root cause ? Who reported the crime, trace back to the troll ?

Easy, have policies for such situations. Just don’t show up like bin laden is hiding in the home if it’s the third fake call of the week.

And because their entire existence is to show up, you have a conflict of interests on how you answer the call.

...not responding to a swat call for the tenth, twentieth, thirtieth, fortieth, or fiftieth time...

No need for residential raids. You know where the person is. Wait outside. Hostages? Wait out of sight. Eventually they come out.