Volunteers fighting false alarms in Nevada Carson City pioneering new approach
By Spencer Ives
Updated Tue December 9, 2014
CARSON CITY, Nev.—The sheriff's office here is using volunteers to reduce false alarm dispatches, an approach new to the Security Industry Alarm Coalition, SIAC says.
The Carson City Sheriff's Office started the program at least five years ago, but SIAC hadn't heard about it until recently, Steve Keefer, western U.S. law enforcement liaison for SIAC, told Security Systems News.
These volunteers, currently just two who speak with repeat false alarm offenders to discuss ways to reduce the number of false alarms, are “regular citizens that just want to help out in the community,” Keefer said.
The volunteers' efforts, more often than not, are met with full cooperation, Keefer said.
He plans to follow up with the sheriff's office about how these volunteers are trained and how their efforts affect the number of false alarms, as well as checking in with alarm companies for their response to the volunteer program, he said.
Keefer believes residential markets could benefit from this process as well.
"What was unique about Carson City's Sheriff Office—they don't even have a [false alarm] ordinance," he said.
SIAC could recommend the approach to other sheriff's offices if it sees positive results in Carson City, Keefer said.
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