NCJ Number
28487
Date Published
1973
Length
41 pages
Annotation
THIS PAPER EXPLORES THE PRELIMINARY STRUCTURE OF A BURGLAR ALARM RESPONSE MODEL THAT MAY BE USED TO DESCRIBE THE CHANGES IN POLICE RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS THAT OCCUR AS ADDITIONAL BURGLAR ALARMS ARE INSTALLED IN A COMMUNITY.
Abstract
THE WORK REPORTED ON IN THIS PAPER WAS PERFORMED IN AN ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY THE MAGNITUDE OF THE FALSE ALARM PROBLEM AS THE NUMBER OF BURGLAR ALARM INSTALLATIONS INCREASED. THE PARAMETERS THAT AFFECT THE NUMBER OF POLICE DISPATCHES GENERATED BY BURGLARIES AND BURGLAR ALARMS ARE IDENTIFIED, DEFINED AND ASSEMBLED INTO THE ALGEBRAIC IDENTITIES THAT FORM THE BURGLAR ALARM RESPONSE (BAR) MODEL. AN EXAMPLE IS PROVIDED THAT SHOWS HOW THE BAR MODEL MIGHT BE USED TO ESTIMATE FUTURE POLICE BURGLARY DISPACTH REQUIREMENTS. AN EFFORT WAS ALSO MADE TO IDENTIFY ANY PARAMETERS THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL IN ESTABLISHING MEANINGFUL FALSE ALARM RELATED PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR BURGLAR ALARMS. TO THIS END, THE CONCEPT OF A MEAN-TIME-BETWEEN-FALSE-ALARMS (MTBFA) FOR INDIVIDUAL BURGLAR ALARM INSTALLATIONS IS DEVELOPED. THE PARAMETERS THAT DETERMINE THE MTBFA REQUIREMENTS ARE IDENTIFIED AND INCORPORATED INTO THE MTBFA MODEL THAT PERMITS DETERMINATION OF THE AVERAGE FALSE ALARM REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH BURGLAR ALARM INSTALLATION IN A FUTURE BURGLAR ALARM NETWORK. THE PAPER CONCLUDES THAT A NEED EXISTS TO QUANTIFY POLICE FALSE ALARM TOLERANCE LEVELS, THAT MTBFA REQUIREMENT GOALS CAN BE GENERATED USING ALARM NETWORK PERFORMANCE AS A CRITERIA, AND THAT SMALL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MTBFA OF SOME EXISTING ALARM INSTALLATIONS MAY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT PAYOFF. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)