International Police Association endorses CP-01 standard

FRISCO, Texas--The International Police Association struck another blow in the war being waged against false alarms last month when it passed a resolution calling for jurisdictions to make the SIA CP-01 standard compulsory for all alarm control panels. The resolution also calls for all manufacturers to comply with the standard in future production of alarm panels. "The dealers, installers and alarm companies need to get very serious about using the CP-01 panels. It's one of the most effective ways to reduce false alarms," said Glen Mowry, the law enforcement liaison to the Security Industry Alarm Coalition. Texas has mandated CP-01, and Mowry said he's hoping that the resolution will be passed in other states as well. "The CP-01 resolution is twofold," said Mowry. "One [part mandates that it be] incorporated into city and state ordinances, and the other is that the alarm industry steps up quickly in its use of CP-01 panels in replacement or upgrade installations." The resolution states that control panels should be required to cover event recognition, information handling sequences, and that system lay-out testing must be done. It also recommends design features that give greater flexibility when arming and disarming the alarms. "Enforcement [of the standard] is always a challenge," said Stan Martin, executive director of SIAC, said. However, when CP-01 is actually put into an ordinance, "it's typically not a huge issue--dealers across the country generally comply." Martin acknowledged that there are always exceptions. "Change is difficult," he said, "but we all agree: the alarm industry, SIAC, the IACP, the SIA, it makes good sense that we do everything we can to reduce alarm dispatches." Martin went on to say that national alarm dispatches are down 70 percent over the last eight years. "It's even more significant because we've doubled the number of systems [from 18 to 36 million] in eight years," said Martin. "Nevertheless we still have a lot of unnecessary dispatches that can be corrected. CP-01 is a longer term solution, because it only affects panels we install from this day forward--it's not retroactive." And not all manufacturers are currently making SIA CP-01 compliant panels. "Manufacturers respond to demand," said Martin, but added, "Eventually all panels will be built to the CP-01 standard." "I can also say it's a bit scary--since 50 percent of dealers aren't plugged-in to a state or national association, they might not even know and find themselves in trouble with state regulators. Maybe they'll see this and take note," said Martin. For more information about the SIA CP-01 and a list of manufactures' alarm panels that comply with the standard, visit http://www.siacinc.org.