SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — If your burglar alarm goes off in Sandy Springs, police now want your alarm company to provide proof before responding. The new ordinance went into effect on Wednesday.
The ordinance, called true verification process "requires an alarm company to verify a burglar alarm activation prior to calling 911," according to Sandy Springs police deputy chief in a video explaining the new rule.
The police department says the high false alarm rate is a burden on public safety, tying up local law enforcement resources.
“In Sandy Springs, almost 10,000 calls come into 911 each year from alarm companies with a 99 percent false-alarm rate," Deputy Police Chief Keith Zgonc says in the video.
But industry experts warn it could be risky.
“What Sandy Springs is saying is, unless you can tell us by video or by audio or by eyewitness that a crime is being committed, we are not coming," David Margulies, spokesman for the Security Industry Alarm Coalition told 11Alive's Elwyn Lopez.
And if the alarm companies fail to oblige with police, they will be facing hefty fines.
Margulies says he believes the better option is the "model ordinance," because it "dramatically reduces false alarms but maintains the police response."
Sandy Springs said they did try the model ordinance, however the city said that approach didn’t work.