§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many burglar alarm calls were dealt with by the Metropolitan police in 1984; what percentage of these were false alarms; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Giles ShawI understand that figures are not available for alarms signalled by bells only. Figures that are available relate to alarms whose signals got to the police direct, or via central stations maintained by alarm companies. The total number of calls from these alarms dealt with by the Metropolitan police in 1984 was 210,213 of which 98.9 per cent. proved false. It is the policy of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to withdraw direct police response to alarms which generate an unacceptable number of false calls until the trouble has been put right.