450 – that is the number of false alarms in Squamish, British Columbia in 2018 alone. In fact, 94 to 98 percent of all alarm activations are false and, with each of these false alarms, resources are wasted and avoidable pressure is put on the responding authorities whose time could have been better spent on real crimes and community outreach.

Had the alarm been verified before the necessary teams were dispatched, this wasted time and money would have been saved.

That's why an increasing number of jurisdictions are moving towards false alarm penalties as a means of incentivizing business owners to upgrade their security systems.

What is a verified alarm?

Unlike conventional alarms, where you have no way of knowing what level of attention is needed until someone goes to the property to see why the alarm was triggered (which is where the responding authorities come in), verified audio and video security solutions enable professional alarm operators to hear and see what is happening in your business - allowing them to verify the source of the alarm.

This assists the operators in minimizing the rate of false alarms and, when a crime is actually occurring, it allows them to contact the authorities as quickly as possible. In turn, this increases the rate of apprehension and minimizes the likelihood of the perpetrator gaining entry and committing a costly crime.

A lower false alarm rate isn’t just better for the authorities, it is better for business owners as well.

You see, without verification of a triggered alarm, it can take police upwards of 45 minutes to respond. While you could opt for a private security guard who can verify the alarm to improve these response rates, they are costly, there is a higher likelihood of human error, and this approach can still result in delays averaging 17 minutes.

With verified audio and/or video electronic surveillance, this time is cut down substantially!

With Sonitrol Western Canada, the average response time of authorities is just 3.5 minutes and is a result of our renowned reputation for helping law enforcement identify true security events.

This ability is increasingly important as more and more communities adopt verified video surveillance response policies, which often state that police will respond to an alarm only if it can first be verified through audio or video or by an eyewitness or in jurisdictions, such as Squamish, where penalties will now increase the cost of false alarms for business owners.

If you believe it is time to upgrade your security system to eliminate the unnecessary cost of false alarms and ensure the authorities are available for real emergencies when they are needed, contact us today for a free security audit!