Are you wondering if SimpliSafe calls the police? If you are a SimpliSafe owner, you may wonder what happens if someone triggers your alarm system. In the case of an emergency, an alarm can save homeowners thousands in property loss.
When you are a SimpliSafe paid monitoring customer, your system will call the police if you haven’t deactivated the alarm or responded by phone. However, SimpliSafe won’t call the police if you don’t have paid monitoring or deactivate the alarm.
If you want a responsive alarm system, you should learn what happens when SimpliSafe receives a notification of a triggered alarm. Keep reading further to learn if SimpliSafe calls the police and what customers should know.
Do Police Respond to Triggered SimpliSafe Alarms?
Whether out of town or at work, an alarm system helps guard your property while you are away. An alarm is an effective crime deterrent, as criminals are worried about the police arriving from a triggered alarm system.
SimpliSafe offers self-monitored and professional monitoring for its security systems. If you have a self-monitored system, you must contact law enforcement personally if your alarm triggers. Professional monitoring helps you to protect your home with the help of support staff.
When SimpliSafe believes your property is in danger, they will contact your local police department for assistance. During contact, the SimpliSafe team will provide proof that a crime is occurring in your home.
If there is an available police officer, they will dispatch them as soon as possible for your property. However, it’s important to note that most police departments won’t send someone immediately if there is no threat to the homeowner’s life.
When Does SimpliSafe Call the Police?
SimpliSafe will not always call the police if your system’s alarm is triggered. After receiving a notification of the event, the SimpliSafe monitoring team will contact the owner to deactivate a false alarm.
In most cases, there is a 30-second window where an owner can input their PIN into the alarm system to turn it off. Once the monitoring staff receives the notification of a triggered alarm, they will attempt to call the owner.
If you want to disarm the system over the phone, state the PIN or safe word associated with the SimpliSafe account. After attempting to contact the owner, SimpliSafe will call the police if you fail to respond to calls to your primary or secondary contact numbers.
Along with these situations, SimpliSafe will not call the police if your system is in Practice Mode. After activating your system, this mode lasts for around 72 hours before it returns to its standard operation.
If someone breaks into your home during this phase, you must contact the police. SimpliSafe professional monitoring staff doesn’t receive notifications of a triggered alarm during the initial Practice Mode.
Average Police Response Times For Home Alarms
According to the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, between 94%-98% of alarm calls are false activations. With an overwhelming percentage of false alarm calls, most police departments don’t place urgency on these alerts.
Additionally, it generally takes 8 minutes for a local police department to be notified of a triggered alarm. Once the police receive the call, they will place it on their response list and visit your property to take a report.
In large metropolitan areas, many police departments need more time to respond to urgent crimes. If there is a high-level crime, the police generally take 11 minutes to arrive at the crime scene.
The time it takes for a police officer to respond to your triggered alarm depends on these factors:
- Priority Of The Emergency (High or Low)
- Number of Officers on Duty
- Number of Officers Needed For Call
- Number of High-Priority Calls During Time
Along with response times, you should ensure your system will activate at the correct time. Many police departments have enacted a three-strike rule where they will not respond to someone’s triggered alarm if there were three false alarms previously.
How Does SimpliSafe Verify an Owner’s Identity?
During a triggered alarm, the SimpliSafe monitoring team will verify your identity through your PIN and a safe word. If someone triggers your alarm, you can confirm that you want police sent to your property.
However, SimpliSafe will not ask you to identify your identity through an ID card or other personal information. If an unknown number calls you and asks for details like your social security card, they are not SimpliSafe.
Once the police arrive, they ask you to identify yourself through an ID card or printed mail showing your name. SimpliSafe doesn’t have any control over the policies of a local police department.
Does SimpliSafe Call Other Emergency Services?
Along with calling the police, you can receive assistance from SimpliSafe monitoring with other emergency services. If your smoke detectors suddenly activate, the monitoring staff will contact you to determine if you are in danger before sending fire and rescue.
From flooding to medical emergencies, you can activate the panic button on SimpliSafe to request assistance. The support staff will help call the proper emergency services and send someone to your home as quickly as possible.
With complete emergency service coverage, we recommend our readers subscribe to SimpliSafe’s 24/7 monitoring. The reasonable monthly fee can save you thousands of dollars in property damages and injury.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have a professional monitoring plan with SimpliSafe, they will not call the police for you. Only paid monitoring plans have the option of notifying police departments of a triggered alarm system. Self-monitored plan users must contact their local law enforcement themselves if they need help.
When you are in your home, you shouldn’t set the alarm to Away at night. All the sensors and cameras will normally work when you set the SimpliSafe system to Home. The only change you will notice is that the entry sensors will not activate when they sense someone’s movement in the home at night.
If you have a self-monitored alarm system, call the police if someone breaks into your home. Only professionally monitored alarm systems notify the police if you don’t input your user PIN after a set period. The monitoring staff will provide the details of your situation to the police department.
Conclusion
If you bought a home with SimpliSafe or want to purchase an alarm system, you may have wondered if they call the police. As a paid monitoring subscriber, you will receive the help of professional monitoring staff who notify police of a triggered alarm.
However, we would set realistic expectations of what police can do during an activated alarm event. The police generally respond too slowly to catch a criminal, so you should improve other aspects of home security.
If you have any experience with SimpliSafe calling the police, we would love to know in the comments!