DES MOINES, Iowa — In recent years, the Iowa Department of Public Safety says the state has seen a "significant uptick" in the number of swatting calls, defined as calls that falsely report an impending threat, such as a school shooting or a bomb threat.
Now, a bill proposed by the House Public Safety Committee aims to categorize making a swatting call as a felony, rather than a misdemeanor.
"This is a major problem, and you know, you always know about it or you always hear about it, but you don't really see it sometimes actually play out," said Rep. Brian Meyer, a member of the committee.
The ongoing conversation around the legislation comes as multiple schools in central Iowa have experienced swatting calls.
On Saturday, Feb. 3, the Perry Community School District investigated potential threats and Ankeny Centennial High School evacuated their building due to a potential threat. Both were deemed not credible after a number of law enforcement resources were utilized.
Additionally, on Monday, there were reports of a swatting call at Lincoln High School that was reportedly found to be fake in less than one minute.
Finally, Iowa DPS reported that on Jan. 17, approximately 13 schools across the state received swatting calls in the afternoon.
Now, lawmakers are taking action to hopefully reduce these calls.
"We want to stop the frivolous calling of 911 or the malicious calling of 911 that is basically to put them in danger, and we want to do everything we can to keep law enforcement safe," Meyer said.
HF2165 has goals of reducing the amount of calls and relieving law enforcement.
"This just gives an extra tool to law enforcement to really try to tamp down on swatting," Meyer said.
If passed, the law ultimately would allow law enforcement to utilize their resources only where it is deemed necessary.
"The message that we're trying to send is: stop, this is not appropriate," Meyer said. "We need to use 911 as it is meant to be used."