New technology could reduce number of false alarms in Sudbury
A recent report released by Greater Sudbury Police said 93 per cent of security calls they respond to are false alarms.
While police are looking for solutions, CTV News spoke with local security agencies to find out how new technology is reducing those numbers to better allocate police resources.
Theft, break and enters and other criminal activity occurs all the time, but in 2021 the local police spent more than 1,100 hours investigating what turned out to be false alarms.
However, security companies say technology has changed so much over the last few years that there should be far fewer of those calls.
“In the newer systems that are out there, even the motion detectors have a video component built in so you can turn around and you can actually verify right there whether it is somebody who has actually entered or just the cat knocking something off the shelf,” said Mike Pagnutti, president of Northern Security.
Although the new technology is promising when it comes to call reduction, Pagnutti said he understands the frustration of police responding to so many false alarms.
“It is very time consuming for the officers to be coming out if it a false alarm,” he said.
“(That’s) where having them verified is kind of good for everybody. It gives them the opportunity to check and make sure and it saves a lot of the resources.”
In 2001, police started charging companies a fee when they responded to false alarms. But it hasn’t made much of a difference, said Staff Sgt. Sandy Dicaire.
“The imposition of fees did cause some deterrence and provided some cost recovery, however, once again, there was very little change in the number of false alarms,” Dicaire said.
To deal with the issue, police will only respond to security alarms when certain benchmarks are met.
“Once alarms have been verified by either audio, video, eye witnesses on scene or at least two different sensors,” she said.
“This is the method we’re now going to be following.”
Dicaire said the hope is that the new policy combined with the new technology will improve the situation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
BREAKING Police make arrests in grandparent scam that defrauded victims out of $739K
An interprovincial investigation into an 'emergency grandparents scam' that targeted seniors across Canada has led to the arrest of 14 suspects, Ontario Provincial Police say.
Motion to allow keffiyehs at Ontario legislature fails
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
B.C. child killer's lawyer walks out of review hearing
The lawyer representing child-killer Allan Schoenborn walked out of his client's annual review hearing Wednesday – abruptly ending proceedings marked by tense exchanges and several outbursts.
How to avoid the trap of becoming 'house poor'
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Calgary man charged with manslaughter in death of toddler
Calgary police say Winston Campbell, 45, has been charged in the death of a two-year-old girl in 2022.
'Wild, wild west.' Families say organs of deceased Alabama inmates have been removed without their consent
The state Department of Corrections and the University of Alabama at Birmingham face disturbing allegations from the families of five inmates whose organs were removed and reportedly kept without consent, according to a series of lawsuits.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Juror dismissed from Trump hush money trial as prosecutors seek to hold former president in contempt
A juror in Donald Trump's hush money trial was dismissed Thursday after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair and impartial, and the status of a second New Yorker picked for the panel was in limbo amid concerns that some of his answers in court may not have been accurate.