Bellingham Police To Stop Responding To Home Burglar Alarms

Bellingham Police To Stop Responding To Home Burglar Alarms

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Story Published: Aug 31, 2004 at 5:06 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 1:33 AM PDT

By April Zepeda

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BELLINGHAM - If you own a home security system, there's good news and bad news for those of you in Bellingham.

The city is dropping all fines for false alarms.

But in return, the police will stop responding to burglar alarms -- despite the warning from security companies.

"We estimated we could have one police officer spend eight hours a day, every day of the entire year, responding to alarms that are false," said Lt. Dave Doll of the Bellingham Police Department.

Beginning in January, Bellingham Police say they will no longer respond to burglar alarms because they keep officers from real emergencies.

Police insist it's time for alarm companies to hire their own security staff.

"You see what you have is the alarm companies selling a product, charging a monthly fee, and gifting public services to do the work of that product," said Doll. "It's just not right."

But security companies say bad guys area deterred more by police, than security guards. They worry the new policy will send out a message that Bellingham is an easy mark.

"Will it occur? Only time is going to tell, but I don't want to be the statistic that proves that it does," said Jim Vos, owner of Bellingham Lock and Safe. "Why not keep the deterrent in place and protect the homeowner?"

But police say they are making the community safer by freeing up officers.

Alarm companies insist the true test will come next year, when the city finds out if burglaries are on the rise.

Bellingham Police will still respond to a burglar alarm if the security company can verify it's the real thing.

They will continue responding to all panic and hold up alarms.

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