One of the biggest new inclusions to the gaming culture scene in the past decade has easily been the proliferation of live-streaming. Now, game enthusiasts are able to share their gaming experiences with others and foster community on a level never seen before. Unfortunately, one of the byproducts that has resulted from this phenomenon has been swatting, the act of reporting a fake serious crime to the police with the intent of having a SWAT team sent to a target’s house. While meant as a prank, swatting has led to trauma and even accidental death. To address this, the Seattle Police Department has initiated a new project that hopes to prevent such fatal incidents.

The Seattle Police Department recently uploaded a PSA video on their official YouTube channel that provides information on the new anti-swatting program. The initiative works in tandem with the SPD’s previously established SMART 911 program, where civilians can notify police about unique factors about their household, such as having a hearing or sight impaired occupant. Their new aspect for this program is called Rave Facility, which allows for people who suspect they might be victims of swatting in the future to notify policy of that possibility ahead of time.

To register, Seattle residents need only to go to the Rave Facility and enter some basic information. This is intended for people such as media figures, livestreamers and game enthusiasts who fit common demographics for swatting targets. When this information is entered, any police responding to 911 calls at the registrant’s address will be given the information from the Rave Facility profile that would warn the officers about the call being a possible swatting prank.

The Seattle Police seems fairly poised to handle SWAT threats carefully, as seen in the above PSA, but this extra measure will certainly help prevent situations from escalating unnecessarily in the future. Hopefully other cities will follow suit, to ensure the safety of livestreamers everywhere. Now if only it was this easy to address racist and sexist trolls in Twitch comments.

Do you think the Seattle Police Department has addressed swatting adequately? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to stay tuned for the latest live-streaming news, such as the free Twitch Prime games confirmed for October 2018, here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!