Do False Alarms Cost You Money?
3 pros!
Home security systems can protect your home, but false alarms can result in fees and fines from cities and towns.
Member Michael Braun of San Antonio says he learned a valuable lesson about using nonlocal alarm system providers when he hired Central Security Group for service last year. He says the company, which is based in Oklahoma and services the southern United States, refused to properly fix a malfunctioning motion detector battery that he says continually sent false alarms to his local police department.
“The techs were incompetent and refused to listen to what I had to say,” he says. “They would take weeks to return service calls. I received more than $100 in fines from San Antonio for false alarms.”
He says he ultimately asked highly rated Friendly Security in San Antonio to fix the problem. He says Friendly previously served as a third-party vendor for CSG and originally hooked up his system, so when his contract with CSG ended, he hired Friendly to service and monitor the system.
“I didn’t have any problems with Friendly,” Braun says. “The false alarms stopped as soon as they fixed the motion detector. And when I called them for service, they were out in an hour.” Calls to CSG for comment were not returned.
False alarms that result from home security systems represent a problem for the industry, cost to homeowners and a serious concern to public safety officials.
The problem with false alarms
False alarms present a huge public safety issue, according to The Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, which asserts in a 2007 report that police respond to about 36 million alarm activations per year at an estimated annual cost of nearly $2 billion. It says the majority of alarm calls, between 94 and 98 percent, are false, and often represent the highest-volume type of call for service from police agencies.
Stan Martin, executive director of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition, says a certain amount of false alarms are expected among the 36 million home security systems currently installed in the nation, but installers and homeowners can take steps to minimize unnecessary police runs. “Roughly 85 percent of false alarms are caused by user error,” he says. “The vast majority of these systems are working extremely well, but then you’ve got this 3 to 5 percent that drive the police crazy, that go off multiple times a year.
“The national average for a residential alarm system is one police dispatch every four to five years, so if you’re having two or three in a given year, you’ve got a problem,” he says.
How technology helps
Chris Woods, owner of highly rated Houston Custom Installers, says he thinks false alarms have dropped in recent years as more homeowners use mobile devices to keep real-time track of their alarm systems and immediately respond to alerts from monitoring services.
“People have more control than they did before,” he says. “The moment your alarm goes off, you’re notified by your smartphone via text message. You can disarm the alarm right there if you know you did something wrong to set it off.”
Smartphones can help reduce false alarms, as they give you more ways to monitor what's happening at your home. (Photo by Ray Black III)
Steve Shapiro, vice president of industry relations with ADT, one of the largest alarm companies in the nation, says cellphones have made it easier for monitoring services to contact homeowners when the alarm activates. “We make a minimum of two phone calls to reach you or somebody on your list of people before we call first-line responders such as the police department,” he says, but points out that some states mandate a two-call system by law. Not all states require that, so he recommends homeowners inquire about specifics when contracting with a monitoring service.
Recent developments in technology, such as wireless key fobs rather than keypad entry, reduce human error, Shapiro says. “Quite a few false alarms come from people interacting with their system, such as coming into the house with groceries or children in their arms and fumbling with the keypad, so we try to come up with different solutions to those problems.”
Scott Carpenter, owner of highly rated Action Alarm Solutions in The Colony, Texas, says he believes some companies oversell to homeowners. “The most common false alarms come from motion detectors,” he says. “I recommend them on secondary homes or lake houses, places where people aren’t going to be there after hours a lot. If you have pets or family living in the home, you’re going to set off false alarms.”
The cost to homeowners
In addition to the public safety concerns, false alarms often carry a real-world cost to homeowners. Martin says more than 3,000 municipalities nationwide levy fines for unnecessary police dispatches. In most cases, he says, the first offense either results in no fine or a small $25 to $35 fee, but can go up quickly for multiple offenses.
“It’s definitely adjusted for local conditions,” he says. “In California, it’s up to $200. Most of them start off modestly, but it can increase to several hundred dollars if you have several offenses.”
The cost of false alarms can add up quickly. (Photo by Katelin Kinney)
Member Eric Stewart of Wichita, Kansas, says the city cited him three times for false alarms when SecureNet Alarm Systems in Maize, Kansas, monitored his alarm system. In the first two cases, he says, family members accidentally triggered the alarm and SecureNet called the wrong numbers to verify the alarms. Since Stewart didn’t answer, he says, they dispatched police, and he was fined $40 for the second violation. He joined Angie’s List shortly after this experience and learned the company had an overall F rating.
“When we agreed to purchase the system, the salesperson promised they would call at least two numbers on the list before dispatching police,” he says. “Unfortunately, they added an incorrect number to the list as the first call number, and didn’t correct the error until after we fired them.”
SecureNet did not respond to requests for comment.
Training and upkeep matter
ADT recommends carefully training all system users, securing all doors and windows before arming the system, and having the system serviced and maintained properly.
SIAC’s Martin says installers and homeowners should make certain to train anyone who has access to the home in how to disarm the alarm system, how to contact the monitoring company if necessary, and which code words to use to cancel an alarm by phone. “It’s very important people take responsibility for their system,” he says, adding that training should include all family members and anyone to whom they give a spare key, such as neighbors or service providers.
To avoid false alarms, be sure you and everyone in your home knows how the system works. (Photo by Eric Priddy)
He also advises homeowners to check their backup batteries once a year. “It used to be that backup batteries were good for three to five years, but that’s no longer the case,” he says. “If the backup battery is bad, you might set off an alarm if there’s a momentary power outage during a storm.”
Homeowners should inform their alarm companies any time they do remodeling work or change their pets, Martin says. “New systems have a built-in pet immunity based on the size of a dog or cat, so if you get a new pet, you need to talk to the alarm company to readjust the sensor so the pet won’t trigger it,” he says.
Carpenter says most homes can be kept secure with window and door contacts and glass-break monitors. “It’s all about quality of equipment and education, and selling the customer the right thing,” he says. “If you’re just trying to make a dollar by slapping as much stuff as possible in their house, you’re going to have an unhappy customer.”
Woods suggests homeowners check to make sure their installers and monitoring companies are licensed and registered with proper local or state authorities. “You don’t want to go with just anybody for this kind of service,” he says.
Editor's note: This is an updated version of an article origionally posted April. 25, 2014
