Boulder police working to reduce false alarms

July 8, 2004 BOULDER - Plagued with a high percentage of false alarms, the Boulder Police department last month implemented a non-response policy for habitual false alarm offenders. With the new policy starting in June, the police department said it would stop responding to alarm calls to locations that had more than three false alarms within a six-month period. The police department promised to restore response once the consumer completed an alarm class or upgraded their alarm technology. “I think it will be a step toward helping,” said Molly Bernard, commander of the Boulder Police Department, of the steps that have been put into place. Citing data from last year and the first half of this year, Bernard finds evidence that false alarms are on a downward spiral. Last year, Boulder had 4,013 alarms, of which the police responded to 2,674 with only seven warranting police attention, according to Bernard. By the end of last month, there have been 1,437 alarms in the area, of which the police responded to 1,072 alarms and seven have not been false. False alarms are now tracking approximately 500 less for the first of this year, compared with the first half of last year. With the total amount of false alarms falling, so is the number of cancelled alarms. In 2003, alarm companies voided 1,339 alarms; and for the first six-months of this year, they have voided 365, according to Bernard. In October, local alarm companies started a voluntary verified response program, whereas they would make two calls to the location of an alarm before alerting the police. ADT and Safe Systems handles the majority of alarms in the Boulder area.