Crime reduction 

Alarms

Thames Valley Police response to alarms

Police define ‘a false alarm’ as an activation not caused by a criminal attack or attempt on the alarmed premises or alarm system.

Our response to all audible alarms depends on whether we receive information from someone at the location that an offence is in progress.

  • Alarms that are set off in error or activations caused by detectors without apparent damage, entry to premises, or line faults will be considered as false alarms unless proved otherwise.
  • A keyholder only would be called to attend unconfirmed activations – for example, when a single sensor or detector activates.
  • Police would normally be called by your alarm monitoring centre to attend confirmed activations.
  • Where there is evidence of an alarm caused by a crime, the alarm user is urged to obtain a police crime report number from the attending officer or by telephoning 101, the 24-hour Thames Valley Police non-emergency number.

If three false calls are received from an intruder alarm in a 12-month period, police response will be withdrawn. If no remedial action is taken, then the system will be removed from our records.

Two false calls from a personal attack system will also result in response being withdrawn.

Thames Valley Police alarms policy

Thames Valley Police follows the Association of Chief Police Officers’ (ACPO) national policy on responding to security systems.

The policy details police requirements for installers and associated equipment standards. It also governs the level of response that can be expected to alarm activations.

Further information

Useful information