Change Considered For Tulsa Police Policy On Burglary Alarm Responses

False alarms are costing money and wasting time for the Tulsa Police Department, which is again considering changing how it responds. That's because the police calls triggered by machines - almost

Thursday, January 4th 2007, 2:58 pm

By: News On 6

False alarms are costing money and wasting time for the Tulsa Police Department, which is again considering changing how it responds. That's because the police calls triggered by machines - almost always turn out to be false.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says it is part of a big review of how the police could save money.

One way would be to stop responding to non-injury accidents - but police say they have to because it's state law. Another money saving idea is not responding to unverified burglar alarms, which usually are just a malfunction.

A home burglar alarm can provide some peace of mind, but they're also notorious for going off when there's nothing wrong. That's a drain on the police - who respond to the calls - knowing 98 out of 100 times - no crime has been committed.

Tulsa Police Major Paul Williams: "There's no bad guy, it's a faulty system, its user error, it's the wind."

Last year, the Tulsa Police Department responded to 25,000 home burglary calls that turned out to be nothing. It came up during a city council review of ways to improve the police department - and save money.

Tulsa city councilor Rick Westcott: "If an officer goes to two or three false calls per shift, that works out to an hour of his time spent non-productively."

The city could change to a verified response system, which would require the homeowner or alarm company to check and verify there's trouble before an officer responds. Under the current system, police respond quickly only if the homeowner has bought a permit. All the other alarm calls are a low priority.

Tulsa Police say they want the verified response system. Tulsa Police Major Paul Williams: "Rather than us going to see whether or not a crime has occurred, this would require the owner or the alarm company to go do that first."

The police blame the alarm companies for not doing more to verify alarms and improve the technology so there are fewer false calls. The alarm industry believes the time spent verifying alarms just gives burglars more time to work.

The Tulsa city council believes it needs more time to talk about all this and they'll that again next Thursday.