Calling it a successful implementation of measures designed to reduce false alarms, the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) is applauding the city of Appleton, Wisc.
The town has reduced alarm dispatches by more than 35 percent since it put in a new ordinance on Jan. 1, 2007. The Appleton ordinance uses measures that SIAC has been promoting to police departments and city councils. Among those measures are enhanced call verification (ECV) which requires the central monitoring station to put out a second call to attempt to verify an alarm notification.
The city also increased fees for repeat false alarms and put in a measure that if an alarm location gives 12 false reports in a six-month period, the police department can suspend response until the system issues have been fixed. Captain Julie Bahr of Appleton's police department said that currently no subscribers are suspended and that the police department has been working closely with the alarm-using community.
This has been positive news for SIAC, which has sought to encourage cities to make measured responses rather than consider the option of full verified response.
"We are encouraged by the results we have seen in Appleton and look forward to working with other communities in the state to help reduce their alarm dispatches," said SIAC's Executive Director Stan Martin.
