Dallas Store Owners Find Fault with Verified Response

Verified response, a policy where alarm signals must be confirmed as a crime or suspicious activity before police will be dispatched, made its way to Dallas last year. Now, some Dallas store owners are telling local TV news that they're not happy with the situation.

In a Dec. 28, 2006, story on WFAA (Channel 8 in Dallas) by reporter Bob Greene, local store owners voiced their complaints about verified response and their perception that the thieves are no longer concerned about police response.

The story focused on ATM thefts from convenience stores; many of which were armed with surveillance cameras and burglar alarms.

In an interview with WFAA, Lt. Vernon Hale of the Dallas Police Department defended verified response, saying, "By the time the [police] Co-Op gets the [alarm] call, my bet is the thief is gone already anyway."

According to the story, the average police response time is between 28 and 30 minutes.

To see the full video of the story on News Channel 8 WFAA, click here.