In recent years, an increasing number of cities across the United States have adopted policies requiring alarm companies to verify alarm triggers with accompanying evidence of intrusions for responders to dispatch. These changes present new challenges for the dealers that provide alarm services, as alarm triggers alone will no longer prompt police to respond to calls for service in cities with these policies.
Several areas across the country have considered or adopted similar verified response policies. And now, another large city is joining the ranks. The Seattle Police Department recently announced that officers will only be dispatched to calls from alarm companies with supporting evidence. What does this mean? Monitoring companies will have to provide proof that an alarm is valid through video, audio, panic alarms, or eyewitness evidence.
It’s not surprising that the city has made this determination. There has been much discussion about the police’s limitations and reduced workforce in the city. Due to limited resources, police will no longer dispatch a patrol response for alarms based on motion sensor triggers alone. According to the Seattle Police Department, Seattle’s 911 call center received nearly 13,000 burglary alarm calls, but only 4% of alarms were confirmed as criminal activity.
These changes in how police prioritize residential and commercial alarms happened as early as December 1, 2000, in Salt Lake City, with large cities such as Detroit and Las Vegas following suit. These policy adaptations occur in response to a growing problem with false alarms, a prominent issue that businesses in the security industry have been trying to address for decades. They place a significant emphasis on security dealers and service providers to ensure customer businesses receive the proper response to security incidents.
That’s one of the missions of AI-powered video monitoring — it can be a powerful tool in reducing the need for unnecessary dispatches. In cities where understaffed police departments must prioritize verified alarms for response, it’s not enough to confirm incidents — they need to be prevented entirely, and that’s where proactive video monitoring excels. Remote, AI-powered video monitoring automatically detects suspicious behavior and alerts operators to intervene. Business owners can avoid costly repairs and replacements by proactively monitoring for events before potential vandals, thieves, and intruders cause damage.
Other solutions are available, but many are not as modern as AI-powered services. Video verification addresses false alarms by confirming a crime after it happens, but reactive measures are limited as they do not prevent the activity from occurring in the first place. Businesses relying on traditional video monitoring systems to comply with alarm verification policies may confirm an intrusion and call the police, but the damage could already be done when authorities arrive. While this method reduces the strain on emergency services, it remains a reactive solution rather than one that stops criminal behavior in real time.
Dealers can take steps to enhance the alarm verification process by offering remote video monitoring services that confirm intrusions and actively deter intruders.
Dealers operate in a modern world; therefore, they need to use modern technologies to help communities, residents, and businesses be safer. As an industry, we need to work closely with law enforcement to augment their efforts, and that is where technologies like remote video monitoring can help.
Need a hand verifying alarms? Here’s where you can get started.
