Patterico's Pontifications

11/26/2012

Simon Cowell SWATted

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:17 pm



He appears to be the first of the celebrity SWATting victims to have been home when it happened:

Beverly Hills police responded to a call that someone had been tied up and needed help at “X Factor” judge Simon Cowell’s house, but the report turned out to be false, authorities said Monday.

The caller initially told Beverly Hills police that the person had been tied up with duct tape and gave an address outside of city limits, according to authorities. The caller then said the incident was taking place at “Simon Cowell’s” house, which is in Beverly Hills.

Agence France-Presse adds:

The police spokesman added that Sunday’s incident was rather amateurish.

“The call was so ridiculously done it had no credibility with the dispatcher … The dispatcher immediately suspected it was a fake,” he said, although officers were sent to check out the report just in case.

If they never catch anyone, it encourages copycats.

13 Responses to “Simon Cowell SWATted”

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (8b3905)

  2. When somebody gets hurt, or it happens to a politician, whichever comes first, SWATting will be seriously investigated.

    norcal (99bfad)

  3. Law enforcement might get serious about this if it puts too much demand on their manpower or makes them look inept. To a degree, I think they may be concerned about the latter — which could be why they said this was amateurish, so they checked but didn’t take it seriously. It doesn’t help law enforcement’s image if this becomes commonplace.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  4. #3 “…makes them look inept?” I bet the “investigations” is going great, in all SWATtings… :o/

    Kevin P. (a6d18e)

  5. I always figured him more of a malibu guy

    happyfeet (3eead3)

  6. Will the cops catch and release?

    mg (31009b)

  7. This calls for a Crusading District Attorney, to marshall forces and stimulate the public discussion required to successfully apprehend the individuals involved.
    We’ve got Steve Cooley.

    askeptic (2bb434)

  8. This is Beverly Hills. Bet the polite knock by two nice, uniformed, “take your cat down from the tree” officers, was not backed up by a SWAT team ready to go in three minutes?

    nk (875f57)

  9. A policeman’s skills are much more different than a prosecutor’s, askeptic. This is not the ’30s. There are experts in electronic terrorism. They work for the police. The Secret Service has a big bunch. If the police get the guy and the evidence, then the prosecutor steps in and prosecutes.

    nk (875f57)

  10. I was speaking metaphorically; and caustically when it comes to the outgoing DA.

    askeptic (2bb434)

  11. I understood you. I worked for both the Cook County State’s Attorney and the Chicago Crime Commission before I became a lawyer. Law enforcement has evolved a lot. J. Edgar Hoover had a lot to do with it. So did O.W. Wilson. Prosecutors no longer muster armies because they’re the only police. There are police, lots of them, well-trained and experts at their work. Prosecutors support them in court.

    nk (875f57)

  12. Be nice if Liberals took some medicine.

    Rodney King's Spirit (951136)

  13. From Norcal:

    When somebody gets hurt, or it happens to a politician, whichever comes first, SWATting will be seriously investigated.

    No. Common folks have already been hurt or killed, had families terrorized, and pets shot dead by SWAT teams. However, because these were common people, the cops got off without even having to apologize or fix the damage. Someone “important” (ie: wealthy or a politician or both, or a relative of a LEO) has to be hurt or killed before you see any changes. And, those changes will just be to write laws exempting the LEOs and rubber-stamp judges from being held responsible. All in the name of national security, anti-terrorism, or law’n’auduh.

    the friendly grizzly (0e5317)


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