The Security Industry Alarm Coalition, which represents alarm services, warned Friday there is broad voter discontent over the policy, which says police must verify a burglary is occurring before responding to an alarm.

About two-thirds of registered voters surveyed in Salt Lake City disapprove of the policy, compared with about a quarter who approve, according to findings released Friday by the coalition.

The May survey, conducted by Bisconti Research on behalf of the Alarm Industry Research & Education Foundation, also shows 85 percent of respondents said police should respond to alarms before verifying there is a crime in progress.

The alarm coalition released the survey to combat statements by Salt Lake City police who say citizens are satisfied with the verification policy, said David Margulies, spokesman for the coalition. Some Salt Lake City police personnel have spoken about the policy in other cities that are considering adopting it.

"What Salt Lake City has is an alarm administrator who's dedicated to having police not respond to alarms," Margulies said.

Salt Lake City police spokesman Joe Cyr questioned the survey's findings.

"We maintain very close contact with our citizens here in Salt Lake and we've never heard this," Cyr said. "We don't have people banging down our doors and saying, 'Hey, what about our burglar alarms?' "

The coalition said Bisconti conducted the survey by randomly calling 515 registered voters in the city.

The police policy, termed "verified response," has been argued back and forth since the City Council adopted the policy in 2000 to counter a false-alarm rate measured at more than 90 percent. The policy requires security firms to check alarms and determine whether a crime is in progress before calling police.

Taylorsville, Murray and West Valley also have verified response policies.

Critics of the policy, which has included the alarm industry, say it puts homes and businesses in danger. Money lost answering false alarms, many critics have said, can be recouped by placing placing fees and fines on people and companies who report false alarms.

The survey did not ask subjects whether they thought responding to false alarms is worth the cost. But Margulies said verified response proponents use claims of cost savings as a "trick." Proponents don't attach a dollar figure to the policy or suggest ways to recover the money, Margulies said.

"There is no cost," Margulies said. "They don't reduce the police department by that many people, nor do they cut the budget."

Data from the U.S. Department of Justice says Salt Lake City's burglary rate rose 8 percent from 2000 to 2004. Preliminary statistics from the FBI show burglaries and robberies in Salt Lake City decreased in 2005.

Survey findings are online at http://www.siacinc.org.

ncarlisle@sltrib.com