DALLAS — Dallas has become the largest city to enact a verified response burglar alarm policy after its city council approved a new alarm ordinance despite staunch opposition from the alarm industry, business leaders and other end users.
The Dallas City Council voted 8-5 with two abstentions on Dec. 14 to approve the measure, which will be phased in starting on Feb. 1.
Under the new policy, police will no longer respond to commercial burglar alarms unless the alarm company confirms it through private security guards. Police will continue to respond to residential burglar alarms, though residential false alarm fines have been increased.
SIAC Executive Director Stan Martin says the industry did all it could do to try to defeat the measure, including offering a countermeasure that pledged to reduce false alarms through enhanced call verification (ECV). However, the council rejected that measure.
“This just defies logic. The industry did what we are supposed to do in this situation,” Martin says. “When the city council decides to ignore the citizens, there’s not much more you can do.”
