South Snohomish County Crime Watch Hot Sheet: BURGLAR ALARMS- False Alarms Can Take Away from Sheriff’s Resources

Thursday, May 30, 2019

BURGLAR ALARMS- False Alarms Can Take Away from Sheriff’s Resources

A Burglar alarm system can give a homeowner peace of mind by alerting you, your neighbors or your alarm company about an intrusion into your home. Burglar alarms, being equipment, can fail and cause a false alarm.

You may have seen that last week the Everett City Council has reinstituted penalties for false alarms within the city of Everett. Police statistics show that more than 90% of about 5,000 alarm calls were false alarms. While homeowners should rightfully expect deputies to take all alarm calls seriously, responding to false alarms, especially if a property repeatedly sends false alarms, can take scarce resources away from other more pressing calls.

In the last two years, about 30% of the alarm calls for service that Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to were false alarms. In 2018, the Sheriff’s Office received 7,716 alarm calls for service, 32% were false alarms. In 2017, the Sheriff’s Office received 8,391 alarm calls for service, 30% were false alarms.

Snohomish County does levy fines for false alarms. The first false alarm in a 12-month period is not susceptible for a fine. You are susceptible to fines if you have more than one false alarm within a 12-month period.

The Sheriff’s Office recommends the following to help prevent false alarms,

· Create a code that you can remember. The majority of false alarms are due to users entering the wrong code.

· Pets often set off alarms. Consider using “Pet friendly” or “pet immune” sensors.

· Be sure to shut (and lock) all or your windows and doors before activating your alarm system. And before you open any windows or doors, deactivate your alarm.

· Alert house guests to your alarm system if they will be staying with you for a while.

· Talk to your alarm company if you suspect your equipment is faulty. Most false alarms are due to human error, but, faulty equipment can cause problems.