Burbank Requires Alarm Systems to Be Registered

Burbank residents and businesses must register their burglary, fire, robbery and medical-assistance alarm systems by May 1 under a new Burbank ordinance aimed at reducing false alarms.

“We are in the electronic age today,” said Burbank Fire Chief Curtis V. Reynolds. “When systems malfunction, we need to put the responsibility back on the people.”

Burbank police and fire officials, who proposed the ordinance last fall, said that false alarms cost the city more than $200,000 a year and tie up emergency and law-enforcement personnel. The ordinance, approved by the Burbank City Council, took effect in December.

Under the ordinance, residents and businesses must annually register so-called “supervised” alarm systems, which feed into detection systems that alert police and fire stations. Annual registration fees of $10 per alarm system will be waived if registrants have fewer than four false alarms reported.

Residents and businesses reporting four or more false alarms a year will be subject to fines by both the Police and Fire departments. The ordinance provides that a system sounding more than six false alarms a year may be declared a public nuisance and emergency units may refuse to respond.

City officials said the fines, which range from $50 to $135 per false alarm, are based on the actual manpower and equipment costs required to answer a typical call.

The new ordinance is designed to regulate the alarm systems and recover some of the losses incurred when police and fire units respond to the false alarms. Individual home smoke detectors and vehicle alarm systems are not affected.

Burbank police and fire officials estimate that 98% of the 4,000 burglary, robbery, fire and medical alarms reported in 1984 were false.