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UNWANTED alarm activations are often incorrectly referred to as FALSE alarms (An alarm system will always activate for a valid reason, although it may not be for the reason that was wanted, possibly as a result of poor detector design, system design, installation and setup or user errors)
Over the past decade, the UK intruder alarm industry has been tasked with reducing the number of alarm activations that were neither crime related nor caused by genuine intrusions (burglaries).
How did a need to reduce unwanted alarm activations become a REDUCTION of POLICE ATTENDANCE and a REDUCTION of SECURITY PROTECTION?
Although these unwanted alarm activations were causing inconvenience to alarm system users, their keyholders and occupiers of neighbouring properties, the driving pressure has come from the UK Police Service who are expected to react to activations of automatic intruder alarm systems.
The UK Police Service is partially funded by Local Authority property based taxes, as a result, when the general, tax paying population of the UK encounters a crime related property problem, they expect the Police to react promptly to deal with their problem.
The general, tax paying population of the UK also expect the Police to respond to the activations of their automatic intruder alarm systems in case there is a crime being committed.
Provided that the Police are able to attend the premises concerned in time, there is a chance that they could catch intruders in the act of committing a crime and apprehend them.
However, the same general, tax paying population of the UK expect the Police Service to spend its budget wisely.
Unfortunately, 99% of all activations generated by automatic intruder alarms were not crime related and therefore did not deserve a Police attendance.
Whilst attempting to respond to this exceptionally high volume of non crime related alarm activations, the Police authorities were using too much of their budget and resources to be able to attend in a timely fashion to the 1% of genuine, crime related alarm activations that were generated.
Regrettably, as the intruder alarm industry had not performed well enough or quick enough in providing a technical solution which would resolve the actual causes of this 99% of unwanted activations from automatic intruder alarm systems, the Police were left with no alternative but to try to better manage the effect that of all these unwanted alarm activations were having upon their resources and budget. With this aim, they set up their own method of reducing their attendance to unwanted intruder alarm activations, they called it “The Police National Alarms Policy” (or “ACPO Alarms Policy”). This is the strategy of the policy as set out by the Association of Chief Police Officers of England Wales & Northern Ireland.
The Police National Alarms Policy (October 2005) sets out the Police authorities rules and conditions regarding requesting a Police attendance. If any potential request for Police attendance does not meet all of these conditions, then a request for Police attendance must not be made. This policy has worked well and has caused a substantial reduction in the Police budget and resources problems that related to their responding to alarm activations.
The latest versions of this Policy and other related documents can be downloaded via the following links:
"Strategy for a Police National Alarms Policy (April 2005)"
"The Police National Alarms Policy (October 2005)"
As a consequence of the alarm industry’s lack of diligence in remedying the actual causes of unwanted alarm activation problems rather than simply attempting to filter their results in line with the Police policy, alarm systems have become less secure and less effective for their clients who, expecting protection from property crime, have invested in intruder alarm systems and for the insurance companies who cover their clients theft risks.
So what can MSI do to improve the detection rates of detectors whilst resolving the cause of the unwanted alarm problem?
Please see how MSI improved the situation by clicking on the RDV Logo above.
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