Intruder alarm statistics for 2002 show that, for the tenth successive year, the number of false calls passed to the police has fallen
The police service intruder alarm statistics for 2002, published as SMT was going to press, showed a decrease in the quantity of false calls passed to the police for the tenth time in succession.

In 2002, the number of remote systems increased by 52,503 to an all-time high of 1,002,565. The number of genuine calls to these systems was 69,927 鈥� down by 28%, which is good news for the customer.

The really good news for the police service is the dramatic decrease in false calls, which are down by 268,376 (a decrease of 30% over 2001, and the highest decrease ever recorded in one calendar year).

According to the Association of Chief Police Officers鈥� (ACPO) Security Systems Group, the decrease is down to a combination of the new Security Systems Policy and the support of the private security industry, which oversaw the introduction of confirmed technology for all new and upgraded systems.

Richard Childs 鈥� chief constable of Lincolnshire Police, chair of the ACPO Security Systems Group and a member of SMT鈥檚 Editorial Advisory Board 鈥� has welcomed this vast improvement.

Childs told SMT: 鈥淭he figures show that by working in partnership with the private security sector and using a unified policy, the problem of false calls may be tackled effectively. These are by far the best results to date. It鈥檚 important that with the demands on police resources, we continue to reduce the amount of time wasted in responding to false calls.鈥�

British Security Industry Association chief executive David Dickinson added: 鈥淭his reduction in false calls is to be welcomed, and it shows just what can be achieved when the industry and the police service work purposefully together. This is really good news for the community, because more police time can now be spent on other duties related to the fight against crime.鈥�

Source

SMT