House Alarms

Now-a-days many homes have the protection of an alarm system. These give us peace of mind and reassurance that there is some deterrent present to those thinking of stealing from our property while we are away. When alarms do go off we want to be reassured that they will be taken seriously and possible break-ins investigated with a quick police response.

Unfortunately due to the number of false alarms this is not the case. We in neighbourhood watch would like to address this issue and ease the burden on our police force of false alarms and therefore ask your assistance in this.

Alarms are not always reliable, they can go off for no reason, and although they are supposed to have a 10 minute cut off time for the alarm it is not always the case, then they cause a noisy burden on neighbours. Problems arise when there is no way of contacting the householder, if they are on holiday and have not left keys with anyone or they have - but not notified their NHW representative of a named person's number.

If you have an alarm system in use, Please think of the following:

• Has it been regularly serviced?
• Are you paid up with a company to monitor it?
• Does a close neighbour have access in case the alarm goes off and you're not home?
• If you are going on holiday have you notified the Police or your NHW co-ordinator?

If your neighbours alarm goes off:

• Do take notice of it, firstly look out and check for any activity around the property.
• If you do see something suspicious then call the police and tell them what you have seen.
• If you see nothing, then notify your NHW co-ordinator.  The police do not need calling at this time.
• If a check of the premises shows no disturbance at front or back and the premises are secure.
• If you know of a key holder then call them. So the alarm can be stopped.
• Should no key be available, no contact number known, and the alarm continues to cause a
  disturbance then it is the local council (environmental health) who need to be informed.

They will come out with a locksmith to gain entry to the property and switch the alarm off. BE WARNED. The cost of this service will be billed to the alarm address. If at a weekend, or in an evening, during the night, anytime, the bill will allow for this, it could cost the householder anything up to £300 or more.

It is in our own interest to be vigilant in case of crime, but it is also our duty to make sure we do not burden our local police with unnecessary inconvenience, if we can be more careful with clearing our own false alarms we may find then when crimes ARE being committed they can be dealt with effectively. When in May, they bring the new 101 non emergency number to run alongside the 999 - this is the sort of call that will be dealt with on that, different providers of gas, electricity, phone, council, water, all will be contactable through this number. Watch this space (newsletter) for further updates.

Jane Hoolahan PANWA