Wednesday, August 20, 1986
City/Area
University Daily Kansan
11
Forgetfulness often trips false alarms
By Evan Walter
Staff writer
A shop owner sticks his key into the front door on an early Monday morning, preparing for a busy day. He steps inside, turns on the light and sits down to review the sales receipts from the day before with a cup of coffee.
But then a deafening, monotone shriek sends him springing from the chair 30 seconds later, spilling coffee into his lap. He forgot to shut off the burglar alarm.
Although alarms can save a store from robberies, they can sometimes go off because of circumstances other than a break-in.
The people who work in a store frequently are the cause of false alarms, said Dave Rueschhoff, the owner of Rueschhoff Security Services Inc., 2441 W. Sixth St."
With every alarm system he installs, Rueschhoff said, he instructs the store owner and all other employees about the proper use of the system and how to prevent false alarms.
"We give an hour-long lecture on how to use them." Rueschhoff said. "But so many of the retail stores have high employee-turnover rates, and they don't give new people proper instructions."
The number of false alarms has been high in recent months, according to Bob Avery, an officer of the Lawrence Police Department. He said he did not know the reason for the increase but knew the most frequent cause of false alarms in businesses.
"Most of them are caused by employee personnel," he said. "Most alarms have a delay system. They'll walk in and not get it shut off in time."
Delay systems are built into the alarms that work by monitoring the motion within a building interior. The owner of an alarm with a delay system has time to shut it off before it rings.
False alarms also occur on the KU campus, Sgt. John Brothers, KU police department, said that of the 15 campus buildings with security systems, the alarms rang 213 times in 1985. The KU police statistics didn't indicate how many were false calls, but Brothers said he thought most of them were.
"Environmental conditions can set them off," Brothers said. "For example, a good lightning storm can set them off all over the place."
Rueschhoff said he had two
guidelines alarm owners should follow to reduce the likelihood of false alarms. All people who work in the building with the security system should know how to use it. If problems with the system arise, people in the building should contact the company that installed the system.
False alarms caused by personnel can result in financial penalties, Avery said.
"After the fourth alarm, we charge them $10 if they have a permit," he said. "If they don't have one, it's a flat $10 (the first time)."
Permits are not required to have an alarm system, but allow the police to know who has alarms and who to contact when an alarm goes off. Avery said. They are not required for audible alarm systems.
The KUPD, which handles the alarm calls on campus, doesn't require permits for buildings with systems and doesn't fine for false alarms, Brothers said.
Mechanical problems with the system can also trigger a false alarm. The most common mechanical problem occurs with telephone lines, which connect most of the systems with the police if they are direct systems, or with private security companies if they are indirect systems. Avery said
Animals can get caught by the system. This summer there were two incidents in Lawrence of deer walking through glass storefront windows and setting off alarms.
Animals also were responsible for numerous false alarms in private homes with burglar-detector systems, Avery said.
"The most common cause are animals in the house," Avery said.
"When the people are gone, a cat is loose."
Security alarms come in various types. Some have audible bells and others don't. Some are monitored by the police department while others are monitored by private companies, Avery said.
"Every alarm system is custom-designed," Rueschoff said. "It's like a heating- and air-conditioning system. You design it to fit the building."
Security systems can be designed either as perimeter systems — on the exterior of a building — or as interior motion detectors. Rueschhoff said that most systems were a mixture of both.
Rueschhoff said he recommended that his customers buy systems with an audible bell.
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