Letter on private alarm system causes confusion for KC home, business owners

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A letter sent to some Kansas City, Missouri home and business owners with private alarm systems has raised questions and some confusion.

The letter lists the website of a company called Cry Wolf Services, where people can apply for and pay for private alarm permits.

It also lists the company's mailing address in Los Angeles.

Some homeowners and business owners were concerned about the company's name and location, but it is not a scam.

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A KCPD spokesperson said when the private alarms section was being transferred over we understood there may be some questions and confusion. We have proactively messaged this on several occasions on the KCPD website to make sure we informed the public before hand about the change. The Private alarms section is not a function of KCPD and is operated by Cry Wolf Services.

Scott Reaves, the owner of Stonemont Security, says customers have been contacting him with questions about the change.

"Several of our commercial customers especially have been giving us calls asking about this cry wolf program that is requiring people to re register their alarm systems. These customers have had alarm systems for years," Reaves explained. "After a little investigation myself, I was able to tell them, yes, it is a real thing, but we haven't had any communication about it from the PD either. So it was kind of a surprise to us as well."

Kansas City's alarm ordinance has been in place for years. It aims to reduce the number of false alarms police respond to.

Permits are required for commercial and residential alarm systems. If you don't have a permit and your alarm goes off, police won't respond.

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"One thing that we're doing to be proactive is live video monitoring with our alarms now, where we can give our monitoring center access to our cameras, and they can verify a crime is in progress now," Reaves said. 'If it is verified as in progress, they have to respond whether they have a permit or not they're going to have to respond so that's one way we are trying to help out the customer."

According to information on KCPD's website , you'll need to apply for and pay the $52 fee for new permits. All permits previously issued and in good standing were transferred to Cry Wolf.