A sheriff in Colorado is instituting a verified alarm
policy for his department’s response to burglar alarms
after what he says are excessive false alarms.
Joe Morales, sheriff of Summit County, says in a letter
mailed to alarm companies this week that as of Jan. 1,
deputies will no longer respond to intrusion alarms without
a secondary source confirming a problem at the alarm
location, the Summit Daily News reports. Summit
County lies between the metropolitan areas of Denver and of
Vail/Eagle County.
Morales says that of the thousand alarm calls responded to
by his department in the past year, only two have proved to
be actual emergencies. “They’re only increasing,” Capt.
Derek Woodman of the Summit County Sheriff told the
Daily News. “I think the biggest thing is that alarm
companies have more or less been using law enforcement for
their personal profit.”
Richard Morgan of MtnServ, which protects more than 160
homes in Summit County, told the Daily News law
enforcement officials and alarm company owners haven’t
worked together enough to attack the problem. “I think
there are ways to do it with a proactive approach,” Morgan
says. “It’s crazy if they expect a neighbor to come over
and look for broken glass. That’s part of (the sheriff’s)
job. My customers and the taxpayers are paying for that.”
