AGENDA #4b

 

BUDGET WORKING PAPER

 

TO:                  W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

FROM:            Dan Jones, Fire Chief

 

SUBJECT:       Egregious False Alarms

 

DATE:             April 28, 2004

 

 

This report addresses the question of establishing a penalty fee schedule for dealing with egregious cases of false fire and burglar alarms.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On February 25, 2004, Town Council requested staff to review the feasibility of establishing a fee schedule to apply to egregious false burglar and fire alarms.  The practice of charging a business or residential property owner a fee for multiple false alarm activations has been in use for years in some jurisdictions.  The expectation of this fee is to motivate the alarm system owner to reduce or eliminate false alarms through a responsive maintenance program or increase vigilance to prevent malicious activations.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The Chapel Hill Police Department responded to 3,660 burglar alarms in 2003.  While this number increases slightly every year, due mainly to the increasing use of security systems, the Police Department staff estimate that 95% of these alarms are “false alarms.”  The Chapel Hill Fire Department has experienced 962 “false” alarm system activations to date this fiscal year. 

 

Procedural practices are similar for both departments in that when the Orange County 911 Center receives a burglar or fire alarm activation, the responding agency is immediately dispatched.  If the 911 Dispatcher notifies of a false activation, the officers or fire crews will cancel the call or reduce response to a “non-emergency” status and investigate the cause for alarm activation.  According to studies conducted by the security industry, user error is the most common reason for false alarms, followed by improper equipment installation and equipment failure.  Power interruptions and surges, electrical storms or other severe weather, or disruption of telephone circuits may also cause false alarms.

 

There were 7 locations in Chapel Hill that had repeated false burglar alarms (more than 30 a year) in 2003.  These were almost exclusively commercial locations or public buildings like schools or recreation facilities.

 

 

 

Burglar Alarm Activations 2003

 

 

The Police Department’s Community Services officers work with the property owners and managers to remedy the situation when this type of alarm activation occurs.  These problem-solving efforts provide an opportunity for officers to learn about the business or facility and make recommendations to mitigate the alarm problems.  These interactions also provide a forum in which Police Officers can offer crime prevention services such as staff training, security surveys, or neighborhood watch.

 

Fire Department records indicate repeat false alarm activations are isolated to mostly institutional properties (the University and Hospital complex) and receive appropriate repair by on-call alarm technicians when notified - usually after a smoke detector head activates for a second time in less than 24 hours.

 

A cursory glance might indicate that a penalty fee for false alarms would reduce the number of false alarms handled by the Fire and Police Departments.  In the opinion of the Fire Chief and Police Chief the negative effects of the fee schedule outweigh any benefit from doing so.  In addition to the increased administrative costs associated with a penalty fee program, there is also the probability that owners and property managers will simply stop using the systems to avoid paying a penalty.  Another issue to further complicate a fee program is the fact that officers or field supervisors would have to make a judgement to determine if the alarm activated due to maintenance, neglect or some other reason such as phone line trouble or weather.  It is our belief that the scope of the problem at this time is manageable through good customer service and the problem-solving efforts of our departments.