For some sick reason, some pranksters think it’s funny to call in false reports to summon a SWAT team. But Sen. John Cooke of Greeley has a bill with momentum that could make them think twice.

The former Weld County sheriff’s Senate Bill 68 would increase the crime from a misdemeanor to a felony. The legislation passed the upper chamber 35-0 Monday. In the House, it’s is sponsored by Rep. Kevin Van Winkle, a fellow Republican from Highlands Ranch.

The need was made evident by the ambush that law enforcement officers were called into on Dec. 31 at a Highlands Ranch apartment complex. Douglas County Deputy Zackari Parris was killed and four other deputies were wounded.

Law enforcement officers need every assurance they’re not being tricked when they’re dispatched to life-and-death situations, Cooke contends.

“Hopefully, with legislation like Senate Bill 68, we will begin to send that message to anybody who considers trying to pull one of these pranks,” he said in a statement Monday.

Since 2015, 58 people have gone to prison for false reporting under a lowered standard of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Three people were sent to prison for falsely reporting explosives. Legislative analysts expect the number to grow by 10 a year.

If the bill becomes law:

That means the old fine of $5,000 could be as much as $750,000 under the new law.

At the bill’s first hearing on Jan. 28, Cooke noted two false bomb threats were called in just that day in El Paso County.

He said that with caller ID spoofing pranks can be played from out of state, but sometimes people call in reports just to sit by and watch the SWAT team roll in. The game is called “swatting,” because of that.

Defense attorney Gina Shimeall told the Senate Judiciary Committee that while she doesn’t oppose the crackdown on true pranksters, people with mental illness who think their delusions are real or that they are truly under attack will fall under the same law.

“The net-widening is very large,” she said of the bill. “And you are going to have unintended consequences with people who are actually welfare checks and mental health cases.”