Police Policy

Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)  Police Response to Security Systems Policy

The police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will only respond to remotely monitored security systems that meet the requirements of the Policy.

This policy includes Type A - Remote Signaling Systems terminating at recognised Alarm Receiving Centres (ARCs) and Remote Video Response Centres (RVRCs).

The installation and services provided by the installing company and an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), shall be certified by a United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredited certification body such as NSI.

The Policy states that the police will respond to a security system activation either as a result of
a confirmed activation through a remotely monitored security system, or where a person at the scene reports an offence in progress and requests police attendance.

There are two levels of police response as determined by the ACPO Policy:

  • Level One - immediate response (subject to priorities)
  • Level Three - response withdrawn.

Level Three occurs as a result of three false calls to the police for intruder alarms or two from personal attack alarms in a twelve-month rolling period.

Reinstatement can be achieved following identification of the cause of the false alarms and appropriate remedial action having been taken.

Level Two - Delayed Response is no longer applied.

To receive police response for a remotely monitored alarm system, any systems installed after 1 October 2005 must conform to PD6662: 2004 and DD243.

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Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) Police Response to Security Systems Policy

There are three levels of response determined by the ACPOS policy:

  • Level One - priority
  • Level Two - desirable but dependent on resources
  • Level Three - no police response (keyholder attendance required)

If there are four false calls in a twelve-month period, response is reduced to Level Two.

To return to Level One, the system problem must be rectified and remain false alarm free for three months.

Where a further three false calls occur in the same twelve month period, Level Three occurs.

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