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False Alarms, Real Concern: Police Response Costs Grow

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Orange County law enforcement agencies expend millions of dollars and thousands of staff hours a year responding to false alarms triggered by the increasing number of security systems in homes and businesses.

Many of those who purchase the security devices believe they assist police in thwarting burglars, but officials said the alarms are more of a hassle than a help--and squander precious taxpayer resources.

In Huntington Beach, for example, police said 98% of the 8,800 burglary alarm calls they investigated last year were false, costing the city more than $1 million. Newport Beach officials report that fewer than 1% of their 6,300 alarm calls last year were the real thing.

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“I can’t remember the last time we had a legitimate alarm,” said Susan Meade, the department’s alarm officer. “Just about every alarm out there is a false one.”

Several local departments have taken the lead in trying to resolve the problem by raising fines to better recover costs and urging repeat offenders to go to alarm school.

Irvine in December approved an anti-false alarm law that a national committee of police chiefs and burglar alarm companies are using as a model ordinance for communities elsewhere in the country. In the same vein, Huntington Beach recently doubled some of its false-alarm fines, which now run as high as $500 per call.

“It’s an enormous waste of police services,” said Richard Barnard, the deputy city administrator. “People who have no false alarms lose the availability of police, who are often running out responding to one false alarm after another.”

The cost of handling alarm calls varies from city to city. Anaheim estimates its spends $600,000 a year, while Irvine places the total at about $400,000. The bills are much larger in big cities: Philadelphia reports spending $4 million responding to calls, while Los Angeles spends at least $8 million.

Local governments impose fines on repeat alarm offenders, but the charges usually cover only a fraction of the police costs.

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The hefty bills are tied to the rapid growth of the burglar alarm industry. The number of security systems in homes and business has doubled over the last decade, totaling 17 million nationwide, according to industry estimates.

No statistics are available on exactly how many alarms are used in Orange County. But a 1997 study by National Decision Systems of San Diego ranked Orange County as having the third-highest percentage of households with home security systems in the nation, behind San Jose and Santa Cruz.

Police officers responding to an alarm call can spend anywhere from 20 minutes to more than an hour inspecting a residence or commercial building for signs of forced entry. In some cases, authorities dispatch a police helicopter to inspect the rooftops and grounds of very large buildings--adding to the expense.

Responses Slow or Stop

Officials find that in practically every case, the alarm was set off accidentally, usually by employees or homeowners who don’t know how to use their security systems.

The newest alarms operate with sensitive motion or magnetic sensors that can be tripped by rapid temperature changes and stiff Santa Ana winds. Balloons floating in an office have also been known to trip alarms.

Some cities have been so flooded by calls that they have begun refusing to respond to alarms of “chronic offenders.” The problem got so bad in Las Vegas that police stopped responding to alarm calls six years ago.

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Riverside police in 1991 also halted response to homes with burglar alarms that did not have $25 city permits. The controversial policy was rescinded after officers failed to respond to an alarm triggered by a woman who was allegedly beaten and raped in her garage.

Most Orange County police departments said they feel duty-bound to investigate all calls. Increasingly, however, the calls are low on their priority list.

“I’m not saying we’re getting to these alarm calls quickly, but we still go out,” Anaheim Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said.

Most alarms are monitored by private security companies that call businesses or residences before notifying authorities. Police are dispatched only if the cause of the alarm cannot be verified.

Industry experts said the verification system saves police from having to respond to many more false alarms than officials already contend with.

But as police costs rise, alarm companies have teamed up with local officials to help reduce the number of false alarm reports. Many companies have agreed to work more diligently in repairing faulty systems and providing better training for users.

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Irvine hopes to slash the number of false alarms by 25% this year, mainly by raising fees and giving repeat offenders the option of attending a two-hour alarm training school. Under the law, police stop responding to alarm calls after the seventh false report.

Irvine Police Chief Charles S. Brobeck, who is spearheading a statewide police effort to address the problem, said the stiffer measures are long overdue.

“We’re making progress and seeing more and more cities getting involved,” he said. “There has to be a way to manage alarm problems more efficiently.”

Los Angeles last year revamped its policies as well, making most burglar alarm calls a “non-priority” that officers can take up to 45 minutes before investigating.

Despite the recent efforts, however, some security industry experts believe most communities still don’t do enough to combat the problem. They say alarm training schools should be mandatory and fines should be even stiffer, pointing out that the current fees don’t cover the full costs of police investigations.

Most serious offenders, critics contend, are businesses such as banks and warehouses, which consider the citations a mere business expense.

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“Communities need to stiffen the fines to go after the multiple offenders that just don’t care,” said Bob Johnson, president of Anaheim-based Central Stations Security Systems Inc. “But a lot of times city councils are hesitant on passing these fines, not wanting to upset the business community.”

And even though fines imposed for false alarms can mount to $10,000 or more in some cases, officials said the penalties are often reduced if people demonstrate that they are trying to remedy the problem.

“We rescind a lot of false alarm fines,” said Jim Carr, alarm officer for Huntington Beach. “We’d rather have them put money in a new system rather than keep dinging them.”

The steep fines caught the attention of Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach), whose office accumulated almost $10,000 in penalties for more than 22 false alarms from July 1996 to December 1997.

The amount was eventually cut in half after it was determined that the building’s janitorial crews were the ones responsible for tripping most of the alarms. Still, Baugh expressed shock at the size of the fines.

“I can understand that the city needs to deter false alarms, but it does seem a little exorbitant,” he said.

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