Cathedral City Police Won’t Respond To Every Security Alarm

Every year the Cathedral City Police Department responds to 4,000-6,000 security alarm calls.

Officers say 99% of them are false alarms.

As a way to prioritize calls the Cathedral City Police Department is implementing a verified response policy. This means unless you purposely set off your alarm, police will require someone to verify a crime is being committed.

City leaders say it can be a neighbor, passerby or the alarm company. They’ll have to look for certain red flags.

“We need them to look for broken windows, open doors, something suspicious in order for us to respond,” said Lieutenant Chuck Robinson. “The final decision will be up to the officer or his or her superior.”

Eloise lives in Cathedral City. She has an alarm and relies on it to keep her safe. However, she won’t be affected by the changes because her security company calls her or a family member before sending police.

“It’s a peace of mind,” she said. “It’s not as safe as it was when we first moved in years ago, it’s nice to have if someone breaks in.”

The Indio Police Department has gone to a similar system. Other city’s police departments are looking into implementing the same protocol.

Right now, Cathedral City residents get three free false alarms each year.

After that, it could cost them hundreds of dollars in fees.

Officers insist residents will still be as safe as before,

“We prioritize safety, if it wasn’t for the number of calls we wouldn’t be having this conversation, with this system we’re able to provide a better service to the community”, said Lt. Robinson.

The new policy goes into affect in mid-August.