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Police and CANASA come together on alarm issues
Recent alarm bylaw changes in Alberta have caught many alarm companies and monitoring stations by surprise, but rest assured that CANASA reacted quickly and has been representing your interests in meetings with police services in the province.
August 16, 2016 By Kim Caron
The Calgary Police Service has approved a phased-in approach to revise its current Alarm Services Bylaw 31M95. The first phase of the approach, which has been in effect since May 15, 2016, requires alarm agencies to conduct enhanced call verification. The next phase will include changes to permit fees and require alarm agencies to have alarm permits or 9-1-1 will no longer dispatch calls.
Effective June 1, the Edmonton Police Service will also no longer respond to any intrusion alarm not meeting the enhanced call verification requirements, per their Alarm Systems Bylaw 10922.
Finally, in an effort to reduce the amount of false dispatches each year, the Lethbridge Police Service will be enforcing its current Alarm System Bylaw 5078. Alarm owners have until July 1 to register for an alarm system permit to comply with requirements.
While these change may lead to a reduction in the number of false alarm fees incurred by alarm system owners, it may require many owners to update their protocols, not to mention that with such short notice some may incur additional business costs to meet compliance.
Over the past year, CANASA has been proactively and collaboratively working with police services on alarm response issues in Quebec City, Toronto and York Region. We are working on strengthening our relationships with Calgary, Edmonton and other police services across the country so that CANASA members’ interests are represented in discussions around bylaw changes and alarm response protocols. In an effort to foster greater collaboration with police and fire services, CANASA’s board of directors recently ratified a motion to provide Authority Having Jurisdictions (AHJs), including police and fire services across Canada, with complimentary membership (effective June 2016). CANASA invites members across the country to share information and feedback on upcoming alarm bylaw changes by email to info@canasa.org.
Kim Caron is the Chair of CANASA’s National Monitoring Station Committee (www.canasa.org).
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