NCJ Number
243340
Date Published
November 2012
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This study proposes ways to reduce substantially the cost of police responses to false alarms, based on an analysis of the experiences of Montgomery County, MD; Seattle, WA; and Salt Lake City, UT, which reduced false alarms by 55-90 percent.
Abstract
In Montgomery County, MD, the police department is saving approximately $6 million annually by reducing police responses to false alarms by 60 percent. The department not only recovered start-up costs for its false alarm unit, it is also netting about a half-million dollars in fees above the program costs. The key aspects of the program are registration of alarm users, required stronger vetting of alarm calls by the alarm companies, and fines for the remaining false alarms. Seattle, WA, also had an approximate 60-percent decline in false alarms due to procedures similar to those in Montgomery County. The police department is saving at least $1.7 million annually as a result of their false alarm response reduction program. False alarm fees totally offset the costs of remaining police responses. Salt Lake City police went much further in their reforms to deal with the police cost of false alarms. It requires an in-person vetting of every alarm by a security guard from the private alarm company before police will respond. The Salt Lake City Police Department reduced police responses to false alarms by 95 percent, saving the department at least $500,000 annually. The common feature of all three programs is a shift of the burden of dealing with false alarms from the public police to the private alarm companies and their customers. 3 figures and 4 references