Florida law aims to cut down on number of false security alarms, By Nancy L. Othón
South Florida Sun-Sentinel - September 5, 2006
A new Florida law aimed at reducing the massive number of false alarms that law enforcement officers must investigate requires security companies to call two phone numbers before notifying police.
Studies have shown that at least 95 percent of those calls are false alarms.
The Alarm Association of Florida lobbied for the law partly to stave off any talk that law enforcement would stop responding to alarms altogether. Most false alarms happen because of user error, said Bob Worthy, the association's treasurer.
"The industry has done quite a bit to reduce unnecessary dispatches through manufacturing, putting some things in to the panel that will help the user not make mistakes," said Worthy, who owns the Coral Springs company Secure Technologies. "But this movement of law enforcement to say `no more' was starting to gain some speed."
Tests on the enhanced call verification system have made an immediate 35 percent to 40 percent reduction in false dispatches, Worthy said. Some municipalities incorporated the system into their laws and some alarm companies voluntarily made it policy, Worthy said, but it wasn't enough.
Broward County Sheriff's spokesman Hugh Graf said false alarms have long been a major concern, but his agency would never refuse to respond to alarm calls as other agencies have.
"We're not going to turn our backs on an alarm," Graf said. "Sure, as an agency we're very supportive of anything that will free up our deputies to answer real calls. We're eager to see how it works out."
Answering those false alarms isn't cheap for law enforcement.
Taking into account a deputy's salary as well as that of a dispatcher who gets involved in a false alarm, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office estimates false alarms costs taxpayers more than $3 million a year, said Deputy Charles Mosher of the alarms-enforcement unit.
Last year, the Sheriff's Office responded to more than 60,000 alarms, Mosher said.
"What we're looking for is at least 30 [percent] to 40 percent reduction in false alarms," he said. "Whether we realize that goal or not, I'd be happy with 10 percent, but I'd be ecstatic at 30 percent."
As a result of the "enhanced call verification" law, homeowners must give their security companies alternate numbers, such as their cell phone. Many security companies already have multiple contact numbers for customers, but this law ensures they don't immediately call for law enforcement if they don't get a response from the homeowner on the first try.
The potential for delay, no matter how miniscule, gives Delray Beach police Lt. Marc Woods pause.
"There are some areas where the two-phone-call system might not be appropriate," Woods said. "I support all measures to increase the care and maintenance of alarm systems to prevent false alarms; however, there is a need to have immediate notification under certain circumstances ... The time it takes to make two phone calls could be problematic."
Woods cites the time of day or the location of the alarm call, such as a jewelry store, as instances in which police would want to respond as quickly as possible. Many home burglaries are committed in the early-morning hours, Woods said.
"At 3 a.m., it could take a long time to answer the phone," Woods said.
The enhanced calling is not required if the home or business has monitored cameras or audio equipment or sensors that verify an alarm has been legitimately tripped, according to the law.
Delray Beach is in the process of rewriting its alarm law in an effort to make homeowners more responsible, Woods said. The city currently allows three alarm responses per year before imposing a $25 fine. The fine likely will be raised in the new law, Woods said.
Nancy L. Othón can be reached at nothon@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6633.Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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