FRISCO, Texas — The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) passed resolutions in support of their members utilizing a model ordinance for alarm management and false alarm reduction developed by the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC).
The IACP approved the resolution at its 2018 Annual Conference “encouraging the use of this 2018 Model Ordinance…and all of the best practices,” a SIAC announcement states.
The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) also passed a resolution that “recognizes the need for and value of strong enforcement recommended in this model ordinance to achieve the desired reduction in alarm dispatches experienced by police agencies,” according to the announcement.
The recently updated model ordinance has been the result of close collaboration between SIAC and law enforcement for the past 20 years. While the ordinance has been endorsed at the committee level, this is the first time that both IACP and NSA have endorsed the ordinance on a national level, SIAC says.
“By working together we have been able to significantly reduce unnecessary police dispatches while at the same time maintaining the police response to alarms,” states Stan Martin, executive director, SIAC. “Alarm systems reduce crime and protect homes, businesses, places of worship and schools. We want to make sure criminals know police are responding. It is an important component to protecting people and property and reducing crime.
“Every best practice in the model ordinance has been tried and tested for effectiveness in reducing false alarms and the resulting dispatches,” says Martin.
In addition to IACP and NSA, 15 State Chiefs of Police organizations across the United States use some form of the model ordinance and recommend its use to chiefs within their respective states, Martin explains.
“When all recommendations within the model are followed and strictly enforced dispatch reductions of 40-50% can be expected with 85% of the permitted systems in any given year not requiring even one law enforcement dispatch,” he says.
Every year dozens of the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies consider creating or amending an alarm ordinance, according to SIAC. The coalition is funded by the alarm industry and has a team of experts, including retired chiefs, to assist local communities in developing and implementing the model ordinance to meet their needs.
“SIAC needs support from the alarm industry to continue this important mission,” Martin says.
