They secure your home and give you peace of mind. But your home alarm system could be creating a problem for police.
Last year the Delaware County Sheriff's Office received more than 3,000 burglar alarm calls. The Sheriff says 99 percent of them turned out to be false alarms.
He says it’s an issue putting his deputies, and the public, at risk.
Delaware County Deputy Ron Vogel says no two days on patrol are the same. One part of his day he can count on, are false burglar alarms.
"You know that 90 percent of them are going to be false, but you’ve got to get it in your head that the next alarm you go on could be the real one," he said.
While a false alarm might sound like the best possible outcome for a police run, he says the frequency creates a problem.
"A police officer's biggest enemy is complacency. You respond to hundreds of alarms a year. A lot of them are false. And it's easy to show up on scene with your guard down. So that is our fight. You’ve got to make it a point that every alarm you go on - this could be the real deal," Vogel said.
Delaware County Sheriff Russ Martin likens it to the boy who cried wolf.
"I’m concerned about vigilance fatigue,” Martin said. “Law enforcement officers are responding to these false alarms over and over and over. And eventually, if in fact they encounter a real alarm, I think it puts them at greater risk, and I think it puts the community at greater risk."
He says it's also a drain on manpower and money.
On average, he says, deputies spend 18 minutes on every call.
"They're not available then to be on other vigilant patrols, to be proactive, perhaps responding to other calls for service," Martin said.
His office estimates the financial impact at $125,000 a year.
That’s why Martin plans to implement changes in the new year with a goal of reducing false alarm calls by 50 percent.
Like many police agencies, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office charges a fee for repeat false alarms.
Deputies issue "false alarm notices," and after the third in one year, homeowners or business owners will be charged $50.
Your fifth false alarm within the same year will cost you $100, and each one after that, $150.