Bloke who tried to get journo killed by SWAT cops coughs to conspiracy charge

Re: A complete and utter failure of the 911 Caller ID technology

911 centers in the States use the telcom ID tech. If telemarketer's can spoof phone numbers, why not anyone else? Perhaps, governments will force the telcom's to take the spoofing of phone numbers seriously. But, I suppose that unless it happens to high-level official or to his/her family or lobbyist, the problem will not be addressed.

Re: The problem isn't Caller ID

@ Credas

"The underlying problem is the willingness of the police to send in a full heavily armed response based on a single anonymous and unsubstantiated allegation"

Sorry but no. Personally I would be happy for a police force that considered violence and potential death to be a serious enough matter to turn up for. Especially if the claim is of a substantial weapon which includes but is not limited to guns, but also swords and knives. I have made calls to the police concerning what I would consider serious violence but due to the area they never bothered to turn up. In fact no copper came to the area until the coalition got power and stated they were gonna make cuts (I dont know if it is a coincidence but this is years of experience on that street). We pay tax for a police force to protect us. *I am in the UK

"And underlying that is The Problem That Cannot Be Named in the US, which is the widespread public availability of military weaponry, which the police rightly fear they might be facing"

Cannot be named? Since when? The anti-gun nutters who are often more scary than anyone holding a gun cant keep their trap shut on the topic. People stabbed to death 'oh what a shame'. A single gun goes off for almost any reason 'AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH'. I dont think there is enough cotton wool in the world for these people. As I said, SWAT get called for many choices of weapon, a gun is just one. In this country coppers just get shot, as do people and of course stabbed and so on. In fact terrorists have favoured something more effective (even in lawless countries full of guns) called a bomb. Cheaper, easier to make and a lot more effective. And requires no permits or checks at all!

Re: The problem isn't Caller ID

The underlying problem is the willingness of the police to send in a full heavily armed response based on a single anonymous and unsubstantiated allegation

I disagree. You're dealing with a nation that has retained the right to arm bears, even if the recipients are not entirely right in the head (judging by the number of incidents there). If you've ever been in a kidnap or hostage scenario (or been the victim of an armed robbery) you'd be damn grateful that they take any alert seriously. In those scenarios, every second counts and you often don't have more than a second to alert authorities.

It's not a black and white issue (sorry for the unintentional, painful pun here), you cannot ask the police for protection and then object when they act according to the only information they have.

The perpetrators are indeed those who do SWATting because they provide false information with the deliberate intention to endanger life. They deserve a couple of years in a place with a roomie called Bubba IMHO.

I know it's fashionable to just blame the police, and some divisions seriously deserve that. However, it may be worth remembering that for the remainder it's a damn dangerous job on the front line, so I'm happy they lock up idiots making that job worse.

Re: The problem isn't Caller ID

> And underlying that is The Problem That Cannot Be Named in the US, which is the widespread public availability of military weaponry, which the police rightly fear they might be facing.

Not a gun nut or anything, but I feel the need to point out that, in terms of military weaponry¹ available to civilians, a number of countries here in Europe vastly outrank the US, yet by and large that doesn't seem to cause any major trouble.

Perhaps The Problem That Cannot Be Named is one of public education and culture, more than the availability or otherwise of certain tools?

¹ Category A weapons, as per Directive 91/477/EEC nomenclature.

Re: Conspiracy?

"It sounds like attempted murder to me."

Yes and should be charged as such.

but then again that would mean admitting that US SWAT teams are homocidal nutters who go in guns blazing before properly evaluating the situation.

@adam payne

the people who sent the swat team to Krebs house are guilty of attempted murder. They should be hung, drawn and quartered.