There has been a sharp increase in the number of burglaries of businesses in Dallas since the city instituted a verified response policy for commercial alarm owners on March 1. There were 18-percent more burglaries of businesses in March compared to March 2005 according to Dallas Police Department statistics.

It is unclear whether this increase can be directly attributed to the start of the policy where Dallas police won’t respond to a commercial burglar alarm unless it has been verified by a security guard hired by the alarm company. The policy itself is being applied in phases when a company’s alarm permit is up, meaning not every business in Dallas is under verified response.

Nevertheless, alarm companies and associations in the Dallas area and elsewhere say the new statistics – as well as recent statistics showing a marked increase in burglaries in Fremont, Calif., since verified response was enacted – shows that verified response does more to hurt law enforcement’s fight against crime than help it.

“A proposal that was supposed to help police fight more crime has instead led to a predictable increase in crime,” says Chris Russell, president of the North Texas Alarm Association (NTAA). “This is why fewer than 30 of the nation’s approximately 18,000 police departments utilize verified response.”

There were 585 burglaries of businesses last month compared to 496 in March 2005.

In contrast to the commercial burglary statistic, residential burglaries are down 20 percent – from 1,276 to 1,024 – this March compared to the same month the year before. Burglaries overall are down 9 percent in Dallas.

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