Interesting chat on Facebook recently. Someone told me that the Police will ONLY come if your property has a URN number.
But that’s not correct.
A URN number is given to you by the Police when you sign up to have your alarm monitored 24/7 by security professionals through an Alarm Receiving Centre. Your alarm system and CCTV cameras can be connected to an ARC. If there is an activation, an alert is sent to the ARC who decide whether there is an actual burglary or if it is a false alarm. They then ask the Police to respond if appropriate.
To be part of one of these schemes, your system has to be regularly maintained by an accredited company and monitored by an accredited company. Accredited usually means that your security provider must be registered with NSI or SSAIB.
Not if your security has been flagged for regular false alarms
But if you get 2 false alarms, you will no longer be eligible for a Police Response.
These rules had to be put in place because of the large number of false alarms from low quality systems installed by unregistered providers.
The stats for the number of burglaries that are actually solved are pitiful. This is due to the large number of poor quality cameras that have been installed by by unregistered providers.
If your camera does not produce high quality HD images, it’s much harder for the Police to identify the burglars. And, therefore, much harder for them to prosecute them. That’s why it’s important to catch the criminals in the act.
You don’t have to pay for monitoring to be able to get the Police to come to your home.
Learn More About Home Security
Burglary in progress
If a burglary is in progress and you can prove it with footage or images from your security system, you just need to call 999.
The Police UK website says:
If the burglary is still going on call 999 and we’ll send an officer straight away.
Now, of course, there are caveats.
If the burglary is still going on then different levels of response will be sent depending on circumstances & availability. We perform house to house enquiries to gather information as well review nearby CCTV footage.
Officers will look for forensic evidence, like fingerprints or footprints and if found a Crime Scene Investigator will attend.
But you stand the best chance of catching a burglar if the Police can get there whilst the intruders are ‘in the act’ of carrying out their burglary.
And the best chance of getting the Police there quickly is to show them HD footage of the burglary in progress.
But shouldn’t home security stop burglars from trying in the first place?
Yes, it should. But the first thing a burglar will do is to try the front and back doors. Accidents happen. People forget to lock up when they leave. If you have a security system, you will get an alert if someone enters your home. And, if you have cameras, you can start gathering footage to send during your 999 call.
