Why Police Don’t Take Home Alarms Seriously

If there’s one thing that police officers can’t stand, it’s getting called away from emergencies to deal with unimportant calls. The most annoying of all is a falsely triggered security system at someone’s house. But why do police hate home alarms so much? And is there a better way?

Home Alarm Systems: More of a Problem than a Solution

It’s happened to so many people for so many reasons. The dog ran by a motion detector. The kids forgot to disable the system when they came home. A strong gust of wind blew something in front of a sensor. And now you have a grumpy officer at your door waiting for some explanation for these false alarms.

With any luck, they’ll laugh it off with a warning. But you could be responsible for a fine of a few hundred dollars and find your name on a false alarm list. Ever heard of the boy who cried wolf? That’s you now.

The problem of security system errors is so pervasive that cities like San Jose, Las Vegas, Detroit, Seattle, and Milwaukee have official no-response policies. In other words, if your system goes off, no one is coming to help you, whether it’s a false alarm or a real problem. The system that you got to protect your home is now actually working against you.

Why Police Don’t Take Home Alarm Systems Seriously

Police hate home alarms for one main reason: the prevalence of false alarms (or “nuisance” alarms, as they’re sometimes called).

False alarms are a huge time-sink across the country. Some reports say that as many as 94-98% of all alarm calls are actually false alarms. Police time is a valuable resource, especially in large cities. And as it stands, burglar alarms are wasting a lot of time.

One of the other reasons police forces de-prioritize security system calls is the limited number of officers. Particularly in the wake of protests, many police departments have found trouble recruiting new cadets. To exacerbate the issue, many exhausted officers have chosen to quit or retire early. Even as some cities are seeing a decrease in overall crime, police forces that are stretched thin find it hard to respond to every call. The police simply can’t be everywhere at once.

The problem is so bad that cities have instituted steep fines that escalate with each subsequent false alarm. The goal? To make folks more careful with their security choices.

The Role of Crime Verification

A standard alarm system is practically worthless for a burglary. The alarm may trigger, but the police won’t send help. That is… unless someone can verify the crime. Verification means that a real person with eyes on the scene must confirm that an unwanted visitor is on the property.

Some cheap cameras and alarm systems alert the property owners and prompt them to check for trouble. This comes with the assumption that you’re available to take action whenever your alarm goes off, day or night, home or away. The burden of filtering out false alarms now falls on you.

The next step up is a monitored security system. It seems like the ideal solution: the burglar triggers an alarm, a monitoring center gets the alert and checks on your home, and the police are on their way. However, that’s not really how it works. With ADT and similar legacy alarm systems, the monitoring center doesn’t really know what’s going on at your home. They simply know that an alarm is going off and must call you to find out what’s happening. Again, the burden of false alarms is yours to bear.

But there’s a better solution. A system that can filter out faulty alerts for you and verify crimes on your behalf.

The Better Way: Deep Sentinel

Untrustworthy alarm systems are precisely why Deep Sentinel works so hard to keep homeowners safe. CEO David Selinger founded the company after home invaders struck a neighbor’s home–one that was guarded by a traditional burglar alarm that clearly didn’t do its job. There had to be a better way to protect homes and businesses from the unthinkable, he reasoned. And there is: AI-powered surveillance backed by trained professional guards who intervene proactively to prevent crime.

Deep Sentinel employs a team of expert surveillance guards who vigilantly protect properties every hour of every day. If something triggers the alarm, the smart camera system will activate and a live security guard can immediately see what’s happening. Not only that, but they can also speak through two-way speakers and ward off criminals. The guard can verify any crimes in progress and contact the police with real-time information, all in under 30 seconds. A verified crime with plenty of details means police trust the report and respond faster.

Say you were out of town, at work, or asleep. Deep Sentinel will still be on guard to protect your family. Homeowners across America put their trust in Deep Sentinel’s technology and, perhaps more importantly, our people. The guards treat every situation as if it was their own family and property on the line.

It’s true that police hate home alarms, but police love Deep Sentinel. And so do homeowners.