January 27, 2025, 08:13 PM
sunburnA question for the LEO guys, regarding building alarms
quote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs:
There used to be a company called Sonitrol. Their alarms would open a mike when set off. They could listen in to see if it was an actual burglary or not. I caught a few burglars with that system. As far as false alarms go, my department began to charge the alarm owner for excessive false alarms. $100 a pop. That put an end to many of our daily false alarm runs. Our school system was the worst offender.
Sanibel got a new Police Chief and imposed fines for excessive false alarms. Owners were not too happy as the previous Chiefs son in law owned the alarm company and let it slide.
January 28, 2025, 05:08 AM
Black92LXquote:
Originally posted by sunburn:
quote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs:
There used to be a company called Sonitrol. Their alarms would open a mike when set off. They could listen in to see if it was an actual burglary or not. I caught a few burglars with that system. As far as false alarms go, my department began to charge the alarm owner for excessive false alarms. $100 a pop. That put an end to many of our daily false alarm runs. Our school system was the worst offender.
Sanibel got a new Police Chief and imposed fines for excessive false alarms. Owners were not too happy as the previous Chiefs son in law owned the alarm company and let it slide.
We do the same. 3 false alarms in a certain period and we start charging. It’s such an issue we have 2 people that is all they do is calculate and address the false alarms.
It was initially named the False Alarm Reduction Team (no I am not joking) they were officially known as the FART.
The name was officially changed to the False Alarm Reduction Unit after some time. I was really surprised how long it was called The FART before they decided to change it.
However most everyone still refers to it as The FART.
January 28, 2025, 05:15 AM
4MUL8RHenrico PD can be "cancelled" en route by the alarm company instruction. This gives the owner of the home or business the opportunity to reliably identify as the keyholder first, using some predefined word or phrase or digits. However, the PD will not cancel the dispatch if the homeowner calls directly to the PD. At this point, the homeowner is advised to wait for the officer(s) outside.
January 28, 2025, 02:02 PM
92fstechquote:
False Alarm Reduction Team
This is so awesome! I am totally pushing to get a FART implemented at work

.
January 28, 2025, 04:21 PM
ftttuWe used to respond code 2, which was speeding and running lights to every alarm. Time went by, and we weren’t in such a hurry since 99.99% were false.
Eventually, we started having a registry for alarms. At false alarms, we had to issue warnings about our response after receiving a certain number of these warnings. I retired not too long after that, but I do remember issuing at least a couple of books full.
In my second agency, we responded with information provided by dispatch. Also, we didn’t have a registry there in that jurisdiction.
January 28, 2025, 05:00 PM
vthokyquote:
Originally posted by 92fstech:
quote:
False Alarm Reduction Team
This is so awesome! I am totally pushing to get a FART implemented at work
I'll definitely ask about that one.

I did talk briefly with the facilities guy yesterday. Turns out he has tried several times to set up a meeting with management and the local PD, and it just hasn't yet come to fruition. I think I'm going to push on that a little bit.