Akron PD Adopts Strict Alarm Response Policy

Akron police soon will no longer respond to security alarms until someone verifies that help really is needed.

The shift in department policy is in response to decades of false alarms sounding from businesses and residences that city leaders say needlessly tie up police officers.

Police say that more than 98 percent of the 10,000 alarm calls received every year in Akron fail to produce signs of an actual crime.

The alarms, however, do tax the time of officers working for an already depleted force, police Chief James Nice said Tuesday while detailing his plans to Akron Beacon Journal editors and reporters.