Article: False alarms trigger response

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies responded to a staggering 117,248 alarm calls in 2007.

Though the department does not know what percentage of those calls were false, local officers say most calls usually turn out to be an accidental triggering of the alarm.

"A lot of man hours are wasted on each false alarm," said Deputy Hector Figueroa of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "We have to take each call seriously, but we know most of the time they won't amount to anything."

While alarm companies have argued that having police follow up on alarms service is a deterrence for crime, academics who have studied the issue have come to a different conclusion.

"Under current ...

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