The burglary rate in Fremont, Calif., has gone up 14
percent in the year since the Bay Area city instituted a
verified response alarm policy. Statistics released by
Fremont Police reveal a large rise in burglaries in the
city, but Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler says it’s
still too early to render a “failed” verdict on his
policy.

“I don’t believe that the alarm response policy and the
rate of burglaries have any relation. There’s just no
correlation,” Steckler told the Alameda Star-
Times. “They’re going to happen whether you respond to
an alarm or not.”

Steckler announced the new policy HREF=’t_ci_newsView.cfm?nid=2093′ TARGET=’_blank’>in
January 2005 and delayed its implementation until
March. Under the policy, Fremont officers do not respond to
an alarm unless the property owner or alarm company will be
able to show evidence that a crime is occurring or has
occurred.

Fremont was the first city in the state to institute a full
verified response policy. The Southern California cities of
Los Angeles, Simi Valley and Ventura have ordinances where
some alarms must be verified.

According to the statistics, there were 977 burglaries in
Fremont between April 2005 to February 2006. This compares
to 854 acts during the same period between 2004 and 2005.

“Last year, we expected that, because of economic factors
and the policy, burglaries would jump,” Mike Salk, vice
president of the East Bay Alarm Association, told the
Star-Times. “We’re happy that other departments have
been willing to work with us.”

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