Chief Opposes Hahn’s Alarms Plan

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton raised questions Thursday about the mayor’s proposal to require police to respond to two burglary alarms a year per address, but to use their own judgment after two false alarms at the same place.

The chief said the plan, which will be considered Tuesday, would continue to tie up officers, create new bureaucracy and do nothing to make the alarm industry more accountable.

Bratton said that he would “like to get out of the business” of responding to false burglar alarms, but that he could live with whatever decision the Los Angeles Police Commission ultimately reached.

Earlier this year, the commission decided that officers could stop responding to unverified burglary calls, at the discretion of officers or commanders.

After some public outcry, Mayor James K. Hahn proposed that they be required to respond to the first two calls. After two false alarms at the same location, officers could require physical verification before going out.

The commission agreed in June to delay implementation of any plan for a month to give the mayor and City Council time to come up with an alternative.

The problem, Bratton said, is that some of the proposals “create new bureaucracies, which I’m very much opposed to.” They would mean, he said, that “more of my cops [would be] faced with putting together paper. That’s the last thing I want to do.”

Police officials say no system exists that tells officers immediately the number of previous false alarms at a location.

According to the Police Commission, which is charged with enforcing the city’s alarm ordinance, officers responded to 123,587 burglar alarms last year. Of those, 106,640 were false.

The trend has continued this year. Through April, 36,890, or 96%, of the 38,479 alarms were false.

False alarms represented 15% of all calls for police service in 2002 and were the driving force behind the five-member commission’s initial decision to allow officers to use their judgment about responding.

Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said the mayor’s plan strikes a compromise between Bratton’s desire to free up police officers and residents’ demand that officers respond to burglar alarms.

“We are in complete agreement with the chief that we need to put more police officers on the street,” Middlebrook said. “The real solution to this problem over time is adding more police officers, as the mayor and the chief have called for. That’s the challenge in this process, and I think we can get there.”

The council last month rejected the mayor’s proposal to add 320 officers to the force.

To deter false alarms, the mayor’s plan would charge residents and businesses $95 for the first false alarm. Each subsequent violation would cost $50 more than the previous fine. The fines would double for anyone who did not have a city permit for a burglary system.

The mayor’s office predicted that responses to false alarms would be reduced by about 55%. But the LAPD has predicted that officers still would respond to nearly 50,000 false alarms annually.

Bratton said that despite promises, the alarm industry had not turned over lists of customers to help the LAPD verify who had a permit and who didn’t.

Industry lobbyist Howard Sunkin said alarm companies would hand over their customer lists as soon as a new policy went into effect

“We will be supporting the mayor’s compromise,” he said

But Bratton said the onus was still on the Police Department.

“There’s no impact on the private alarm industry,” he said. “My position has been, if we get out of the business, the private sector is going to rush right in and fill the vacuum. I don’t think there’s been enough consideration of that ultimate result.”

Commission President Rick Caruso was traveling and unavailable for comment Thursday about Bratton’s criticism. But he has expressed opposition to changing the panel’s decision. Commissioners Silvia Saucedo and Alan J. Skobin said they were keeping an open mind.