I don't see how there is a cowardly cops argument. They believe that there is one or more armed intruders holding the homeowners hostage. In that case I want them to kick down the door. I just want a phone system that has more authentication built in.
And you can check the Wikipedia list of swatting incidents.
I was only able to find this page in wikipedia, all except one in US (and the canadians did not burst in with guns blazing): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting
The calls say something like "I, a homeowner, have an armed intruder actively threatening me. Please come save my life." They are not "a criminal has broken into an empty house across the street". The phone company reports that, yes, it is the homeowner making the call.
The US phone system has really bad security. It's technically trivial to spoof the phone company. People used to do this frequently to get free long distance calls back when that was a real savings.
Imagine the world if pranksters were able to trivially get certificates for Google.com.
You are hiding in your closet as armed intruders search your home for you. You call the police, who conveniently are driving by with a SWAT team at that moment. The phone company reports, yes, the frantic call is coming from a landline in your house. Please explain what additional steps to verify you would like the SWAT team, the dispatcher, or anyone else to do as the criminals get closer.
