Showerthought: The number of false alarms in Phoenix is way higher than I thought

Honestly, I was reading a report from the Phoenix PD last night and it said over 90% of their alarm calls are false. Ngl, that's insane. Makes me double-check every single sensor calibration now. How do you guys handle that pressure knowing most of your calls might be for nothing?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.xena1mo ago

I saw a news story last year where a Phoenix alarm company got fined because their system had a crazy high false rate. It was something like 40 false calls in just one month from a single business. That kind of thing must waste so much police time. I get why they might want to start charging for repeated false alarms. It puts the alarm companies in a tough spot to fix their tech, but it also means real emergencies could get slower responses. It's a bad situation all around.

james_kim1mo ago

Man, that's insane. Forty false alarms in a month is just broken. Honestly, it makes total sense for the city to fine them, because that's a huge drain on cops who could be dealing with real problems. Tbh, it's scary to think a real break-in might get a slower response because of stuff like that.

davis.noah1mo ago

My old neighbor's alarm went off every time a big truck passed, like 15 times a week. It got so bad, @james_kim, the cops told him they'd stop coming.