False Alarm

Thinking of putting in a fancy new alarm system in your home. Think again as it more than likely is of little use and a total waste of money in more ways than one.

Nearly all of the burglar alarms police are summoned to – about 80,000 annually – are false, a Star analysis found. And the small number of valid alarms rarely help catch thieves, a fact police and alarm industry officials acknowledge.

In 2005, the most recent year data is available, between 97 and 99 per cent of alarms police attended in the GTA were false, a number that has been relatively constant for years. With the market for home security systems growing rapidly, alarm industry officials say the problem isn't going away.

In spite of an overall decrease in burglaries in recent years, homeowners have been steadily buying alarms, bolstering a unique, unregulated industry in which private companies rely on the taxpayer-funded police force to buoy their service.

The cost of responding to false calls has been hefty: Most forces place the cost of attending a routine alarm call (local policy involves sending two officers and sometimes two cruisers) at between $150 and $300, meaning false alarms in the GTA in 2005 ate up between $11.8 million and $23.7 million.

Although a loud alarm may send the would be thieves running it is no better at doing that than a large dog barking. At least the dog will welcome you home with its tail wagging with excitement. Much better than the alarm accidentally going off when you don't shut it off in the minimal time it allows.