Sep 12, 2007 3:27 pm US/Central
Dallas City Council Repeals 'Verified Response'
DALLAS (CBS 11 News / AP) ―
The controversial 'verified response' alarm policy will soon be vanishing.
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council repealed an ordinance that required private security officials to verify the validity of commercial burglar alarms before police respond.
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert had pushed for the repeal, saying that the ordinance unfairly burdened Dallas businesses and that many were staying away from Dallas because of the policy. Leppert flexed his muscle by putting the issue on Wednesday's council agenda without going through a committee.
"I don't think it's a good policy," Leppert said. He had been sending that message to city council members in an effort to eliminate the policy.
"I think the mayor definitely has some momentum behind him," said councilmember Steve Salazar, who has endorsed the year-old policy.
Leppert did indeed have some momentum. The repeal came by an 11-to-5 vote.
Police in Dallas had been arguing to keep the ordinance on the books, saying false alarms before its implementation were a tremendous waste of police time and resources. According to police, officers had responded to 30,000 fewer calls since the policy went into effect. Thirty more officers were watching the streets and 97 percent of alarm calls are still false.
"I think it's still too early to say whether it's something that's been effective at preventing false alarms," said Salazar.
Some members of the council believe that an alternative to 'verified response' could be a requirement for businesses to install security cameras with their alarms. Councilmembers said that this would reduce the number of false alarms and wasted police resources.
The burglar alarm industry said that it is working to develop a new policy.
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(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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