Seattle police will no longer respond to alarm calls unless they have 'supporting evidence'

The police department in Seattle announced that they would no longer respond to calls made by home alarm companies when their equipment is triggered - arguing that few of those calls merit law enforcement and their office is already stretched thin.

Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr says that Starting October 1, her department will only dispatch officers to calls from alarm companies with supporting evidence, which includes audio, video, panic alarms, or eyewitness evidence that a person is illegally entering or attempting to enter a residence or commercial property.

She says that less than four percent of calls from alarm companies indicate break-ins , leaving police checking in on empty homes, accident-prone owners, or dying alarm equipment.

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SPD's announcement states, "We will no longer respond to calls from alarm companies based only on sensor or motion activations. With depleted resources, we cannot prioritize a patrol response when there is a very low probability that criminal activity is taking place."

The department says they receive 13,000 yearly residential and commercial burglary alarm calls from alarm monitoring companies, most of which are due to residents tripping their own alarms or accidental calls from old alarm systems.

A letter was dispatched to alarm companies on September 13, advising them to inform their customers about this change and that "additional effort may be required to work with them on technology upgrades or alternative options."

Washington Alarm has stated that the policy shift will affect over 75,000 alarm sites within the community.

"The verified response policy has been tried and rejected numerous times including by cities such as Dallas, Texas, and San Jose, California. It goes against best practices established through a collaborative effort by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriff's Association," Washington Alarm declared.

"Our industry supports the police and agrees that they need to conserve resources. But there is a better way," Washington Alarm expressed.

While the alarm companies are raising the alarm on this new declaration, residents of Seattle took to Reddit and social media to react fairly positively to the new decree.

One wrote: "Basic common sense with this says it's a reasonable move. We shouldn't be sending cops on thousands of robo calls about nothing." Another user said: "Alarm systems trigger all the time. I'm surprised this has not been the policy for 30 years."

This isn't an unusual policy for major U.S. cities, including Las Vegas, NV; Salt Lake City, UT; Charlotte, NC; Washington, DC; Milwaukee, WI; and Modesto, CA.