Dear Readers:
When a problem arises there are always different solutions. Like Bill Jackson, new president of Digital Monitoring Products states in this month’s Cruzin’ with Susan column in regard to verified response, “There is no one thing that will drastically reduce nuisance alarms and false dispatch by itself.” However, others think differently.
An independent study, commissioned by Sonitrol Corporation, a provider of verified electronic security, is titled, Verified Response: Lessons Learned - A Survey of 20 Police Departments. It explores how police departments are combating this problem by only responding to burglar alarms that have first been verified electronically or by eyewitness. According to Sonitrol, the study shows that the police were able to reduce their dispatch rate by an average of 72 percent. At the same time, according to the report, 69% of the 16 jurisdictions providing specific data show the burglary rate declined, while 31% increased, following adoption of verified response.
The Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC), along with the alarm industry in general, is not in favor of police non response policies. When asked to comment on the Sonitrol study, SIAC issued the following remarks as part of an official statement:
“After more than six years of heavy promotion, fewer than 30 of the nation’s 18,000 police departments use some form of verified response. It does nothing to reduce crime. There are better, more effective ways to resolve alarm issues.”
More than 200 million Americans now have cell phones. Enhanced Call Verification (ECV), by which alarm company dispatchers use multiple phone calls to weed out unnecessary dispatches has cut dispatches by up to 64 percent with no loss of police response and no requirement that the alarm owner purchase new equipment.”
In addition, utilizing updated control panels built to the CP-01 standard for new installations reduces user error, the number one cause of alarm activations. With CP-01 equipment, ECV and other industry suggestions, communities have successfully reduced dispatches by more than 70 percent.”
We believe that the media, as well as civic leaders and police officials, will see the “study” as a marketing brochure for a company that is promoting a failed and outdated policy for its own financial gain at the expense of public safety.”
It is a controversial topic. What’s your take on the subject? Visit SecurityInfoWatch.com’s Blogs section at www.securityinfowatch.com/blog and voice your opinion.
Susan A. Brady
Editor in Chief
