Campus Alarms

Each department that has an alarm (either temperature, intrusion or duress) is responsible for ordering, upkeep, upgrade and cancelling their service.

All billing, however, must be addressed to:

UWPD
1117 NE Boat Street
Seattle WA 98105

The Alarms Coordinator at the UWPD (206) 616-0873 pays the invoices and recharges to the subscribing department's budget.

It is most important that UWPD officers and its Dispatch Communications Center always be aware of the location of all alarms so that they can respond quickly and efficiently to all calls.

The Problem of False Alarms

General Description of the Problem

In the United States in 2002, police responded to approximately 36 million alarm activations, at an estimated annual cost of $1.8 billion. Most of these activations were burglar alarms. The vast majority of alarm calls—between 94 and 98 percent (higher in some jurisdictions)—are false.

The following table shows statistics from the University of Washington’s Police Department Dispatch Center regarding alarm calls that proved to be false alarms, from August through December 2008:

The Causes of False Alarms

As with most university departments more than one person tend to share responsibility for activating and deactivating the alarm systems, and the systems tend to be more complex; chronic false alarm activations are often due to inadequate employee training or inferior systems that have not been upgraded.

Most University of Washington false alarms result from user errors, such as using incorrect keypad codes, leaving a door or window open when activating the alarm, and errors arising from inadequate employee training, such as entering and exiting alarmed premises incorrectly.

The Costs of False Alarms

Each false alarm requires approximately 20 minutes of police time, usually for two or more officers. Typical costs include:

• costs associated with call displacement, because the response to other 911 calls takes longer
• personnel costs of police officers and dispatchers
• administrative costs associated with analyzing and charging for false alarms
• software, hardware, office space, and equipment costs for false alarm management
• administrative and staff costs of notifications, permitting, billing
• costs of developing, printing, and distributing publications to educate the public about false alarms
• Most importantly, lost-opportunity costs might include time that police could have spent conducting problem-solving efforts to reduce documented crime and disorder, reducing repeat calls at crime hot spots, and engaging the community in public safety initiatives. These all compete with time spent on chronic false-alarm response

Specific Responses to Reduce False Alarms at the UW

The UWPD charges a fee for service for all false hold-up, duress, and panic alarms so that police do not have to absorb the costs of false calls and to encourage responsible handling of these alarms. False alarms use up valuable police resources that could be needed elsewhere. The UWPD recharges $28 per false alarm to the offending subscriber department. (Seattle Police Department currently charges $90 per false alarm in their jurisdiction.)

Call the UWPD Alarms Coordinator at (206) 616-0873 to discuss your concerns.