SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A surge in sales of home security systems has led to a corresponding rash in false alarms, and the RCMP aren't happy about it.

False alarms in September were more than double the previous year to 67 calls from 26 in 2009, according to Insp. David Elliott with the Yellowknife RCMP detachment.

"So far it has not been a big drain, the 22 or 20 calls, but when you start to get up to 67 ... that's a lot of time for the officers to be away from their other duties," said Elliott.

He said RCMP noticed a jump in the number of calls after the international home security company APX Alarms conducted a door-to-door sales campaign in the city in late August and September, but said the false alarms are by no means limited to systems from that company. There were 55 false alarms in October, up from 22 last year, and as of Nov. 21 there had already been 43 false alarms for the month.

"It does tie up resources," said Elliott.

He said home security alarms are treated with priority and officers will often stop what they are doing to respond to them. Sometimes more than one officer is sent, and if there is a resident present when they arrive, they often do a full search. If one is not there, the police do an external check of the building for signs of a break-in.

"It can get to be very time-consuming sometimes," said Elliott.

"You can easily use up a half-hour, close to an hour on some of them."

Elliott said it is not a problem with the alarms themselves, but perhaps owners' knowledge of how to use them and prevent false alarms from tying up police resources.

"If it does go off (by accident), don't think 'no big deal,'" he said.

Elliott said if the person can call the police and let them know the alarm was set off by accident, the police will still stop by but they won't have to respond as if it's an emergency.

When an APX Alarms alarm goes off, the home owner is contacted via a wall-panel by the company's call centre, according to Megan Herrick, the public relations director for APX Alarms. If a person responds to the call, they have to give a password on the panel to verify it is a false alarm.

There is also the option of having alerts sent to the owner's phone or computer.

"The alarm company's responsibility is to be as proactive as possible in eliminating false alarms," said Herrick, though she added that if no one responds to the calls or alerts, it is also the company's responsibility to make sure the RCMP are responding to the potential break-in.

Elliott informed the city's Police Advisory Committee last week of the increase in alarms, but said the RCMP isn't asking for the city to enact a bylaw at this time.

"Right now we just want to educate people on how to use their alarms," said Elliott.

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