False Alarms Prompt Proposal to Raise Fees

The City Council today will consider a plan to revise private alarm response fees to recoup the cost of police responses to false alarms, which make up 99% of all alarms answered.

Newport Beach police officers spend 9.6% of their time answering false alarms at a cost that city officials say is difficult to quantify, but could be as high as $1.8 million a year.

“It is not fair to the remainder of the community to have available staff committed to the volume of false alarm responses we experience with the potential of jeopardizing a timely response to a legitimate emergency,” Police Chief Bob McDonell reported to the council.

Unlike most U.S. cities, Newport Beach continues to monitor private alarms directly from the Police Department rather than by a private vendor. While the department would continue that practice, alarm owners would have to pay more for the service.

If the council agrees to McDonell’s request to boost fees, the matter would be set for a public hearing at later council meeting, probably in two weeks.

Since the $1.8-million figure may overestimate the actual cost, part of the department’s request is for $20,500 for better software so the police and a finance computer can track responses and costs more effectively.

“It is also our intent to take a more aggressive role in enforcing the . . . ordinance to ensure those with faulty systems or untrained employees take whatever steps are necessary to rectify those deficiencies and therefore eliminate the need for our continual response,” McDonnell added.

Beside increased fees, the proposed changes are designed to reduce the number of false alarms by:

* Spending $12,200 to upgrade police monitoring equipment.

* Creating a system to require alarm permit renewal annually for businesses and every three years for homeowners, which ensures that notification contacts and information are current;

* Spending $10,371 over the balance of the fiscal year to assign a staff person to 20 hours a week of work on the upgrade.