However, poorly used, installed or maintained systems can cause significant problems for the consumer and police alike. Therefore, consumers need to be aware of the ramifications of false alarms and how they affect law enforcement's ability to respond.

There are a multitude of causes for false alarms ranging from employees, cleaning crews, relatives with keys to your business or home and having no knowledge of your alarm system.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and Professors Simon Hawkim and Erwin A. Blackstone from the Temple University Department of Economics have estimated the direct annual cost of false alarms to police departments nationwide to be at least $600 million and utilizes 60,000 officers in the U.S.

Because of the false alarm epidemic, many police jurisdictions are adopting various forms of regulation including false alarm fines and requiring permits or registrations to be submitted prior to the operation of an alarm system.

Combinations of ordinances are springing up all over the country in efforts to minimize false alarm responses and utilize police resources more positively.

You can check with your local law enforcement agency to learn more about the city false alarm fines and ordinances that are in place that may affect your home and business.

"The [Sonitrol] system has greatly reduced false alarms for our customers who switched over to Sonitrol after experiencing unsatisfactory results using conventional alarms," said Chris Cobb, CEO and president of Sonitrol. "In turn, Sonitrol's verified system helps ease some of the burden of the police; they have told us how much more confident they are when responding to a Sonitrol alarm based on the verification and information given as they respond to the call. That makes us proud," Cobb says.

The ability to hear and now see what is actually happening real-time during a break-in gives Sonitrol the added advantage to provide law enforcement with the intelligence, information and investigative evidence to respond to alarm calls and then later use this permissible information in court hearings.

Although the unique audio intrusion detection capability is the basis for its effective systems, Sonitrol has other services which include Access Control, SonaVisionTM Video Services, Fire Detection and security information management, which can be integrated easily into one comprehensive system.

For more information about our security solutions and a free Risk Assessment Survey of your facilities, please contact your local Sonitrol security consultant.

* Excerpts from A Consumer Guide to Purchasing an Alarm System and A Security Cure or a Financial Nightmare? FARAonline Consumer Tips.

False Alarms: Public Safety/Private Sector Working to Solve the Problem by Katherine Spivey and Renee Cobb, J.D., International Association of Chiefs of Police, Alexandria.