By Calie Stephens,  Editor of www.dallascrime.com, 10/01/05

The latest proposal by the City of Dallas to adopt "Verified Alarm Response" can only be described as both dishonest and stupid.  Most facts presented by the city and the local media to justify this policy are just wrong.

If "Verified Alarm Response" is adopted in Dallas, the police will not respond to a burglar alarm signal unless the homeowner, a private guard service or some other individual visually verifies that a burglary is in progress at your home.  One exception:  the police will still respond to human-activated alarms such as hold-ups buttons, police panic buttons and duress codes.

If the goal of the city is to reduce crime, this policy has failed miserably to accomplish that goal in the two largest cities that have adopted the program.  Take a look at the burglary and total crime rates in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas and you will understand why.

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UCR STATS FOR LARGEST U.S. CITIES WITH ALARM VERIFICATION

Salt Lake City, UT*

YEAR                         POPULATION                       BURGLARIES                      BURGLARIES/100,000

2000                                  179,455                                     2169                                              1209

2001                                  184,723                                     2209                                              1196

2002                                  188,564                                     2512                                              1332

2003                                  184,022                                     2359                                              1282

2004                                  184,022                                     2353                                              1279

from 2001 to 2004 - actual burglaries increased 6.5% - burglaries per 100,000 increased 6.9%

YEAR                         POPULATION                    TOTAL CRIMES                TOTAL CRIMES/100,000

2000                                  179,455                                     16,928                                            9433

2001                                  184,723                                     16,503                                            8934

2002                                  188,564                                     19,146                                         10,154

2003                                  184,022                                     18,039                                            9800

2004                                  184,022                                     17,670                                            9602

from 2001 to 2004 - actual total crime increased  7.1% - total crime per 100,000 increased 7.5%

*Verification in Salt Lake City began December 31, 2000