During 1981, the false alarm rate was reduced by about 80 percent, and patrol time spent in answering false alarms was cut in half. The police department found that there was a substantial lack of knowledge concerning alarm subscribers and the alarm systems serving them. The only reliable data indicate that most subscribers generate a low level of false alarms and that a relatively small number of subscribers are involved at higher levels. Efforts to control the false alarm problem, if they are to have any significant impact on the volume of reported false alarms, must focus on the lower levels of false alarm activity. Six data tables are included.