The Seattle Police Department has reduced false dispatches by 26 percent over the previous year after changing its alarm policy to mandate all monitoring companies and alarm users be licensed and registered with the city. The new policy went into effect in January.
Under the policy, alarm-monitoring companies are required to place two verification calls, known as Enhanced Call Verification (EVC), to customers before contacting police to request emergency dispatch. Prior to the EVC initiative, Seattle had experienced a 62 percent reduction in police dispatches to alarms since beginning their ordinance updates in 1999.
“Seattle is an excellent example of the positive effects that come from enforcing a cooperative alarm ordinance between law enforcement and the alarm industry,” says Ron Haner, alarm response manager for the Washington Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (WBFAA).
Spokane, Wash., also recently began enforcing both alarm registrations and ECV. The city is also experiencing additional reductions in dispatch calls over the 71 percent reductions already achieved under their new ordinance.
According to the Seattle Alarm Division Report, 414 locations throughout the city have had police response suspended due to excessive calls. The number represents 23.7 percent of the false dispatches from the previous year.
Local police have also been working with 417 troubled alarm users by contacting them about their excessive calls for dispatch before they are suspended. In total, 905 warning letters have been sent out to locations with over three false dispatches in the past six months.
“The statistics from Seattle prove that if a jurisdiction takes the time and effort to enforce their alarm ordinance in cooperation with the local alarm industry, they will see the desired reductions,” Haner says.
