Five-Year Study of Security Alarms Released

Data Shows Fire Is the Biggest Risk and Burglaries Spike in Summer and Winter

 Arlington, Mass. —  A new study of verified alarms from homes and businesses across Greater Boston and Central New England shows that fire is the biggest risk for both residential and commercial properties in the region, followed by burglaries which tend to spike in the summer and winter months.

These and other findings are reported in the study “Regional Security Report: Five-Year Study of Verified Alarms, 2014-2018” completed by American Alarm and Communications.

“Given our monitoring footprint in New England, and our systems for tracking alarm events, we use this data to understand local trends and to help people better manage risk in their homes or places of business,” said Wells Sampson, president of American Alarm. “When we decided to look at five years of data, and saw the results, we felt there would be public benefit if we released the information so everyone in our region is aware of these trends.”

The study analyzed data collected at the company’s monitoring center that tracks activity from its professionally installed and maintained security and life-safety systems at nearly 30,000 locations, primarily in Greater Boston, Central Massachusetts, Rhode Island and southern New Hampshire. During the five-year period studied, 1,644 verified alarms occurred, including 532 fire alarms, 333 burglar (intrusion) alarms, 224 elevator entrapments and 185 panic alarms (also called hold-up alarms).  A verified alarm is defined as a signal caused by an actual event that posed a threat and required intervention.

For more information on the types and timing of alarms, see the full report at this link.