Saturday, March 11, 2000
False burglar alarms divert police
More alarms lead to higher fines
BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — Police in Mason spent enough time answering false burglar alarms last year to keep a full-time officer busy doing nothing else.
Places such as Mason — fast-growing communities that are rapidly demanding more public safety services — are feeling the crunch of a growing American paradox:
As residents clamor for the latest in home electronic gadgets to ward off crime, false alarms from those same devices are stretching police departments thin. Officers responding to bogus home alarms risk be ing diverted from real crime, they say.
Now, Mason is fighting back with some of the steepest false-alarm fines in the Tristate. Instead of charging alarm owners a straight $50 fee for false calls, the city has increased fines for repeat offenders. Five false alarms in six months can cost you $500 in Mason.
“The objective is not for the city to collect a bunch of fees,” Police Chief Ron Ferrell says. “The ordinance is designed to make people aware that if an alarm is not functioning properly, it doesn't benefit anyone. And it just so happens that fees have a way of catching people's attention.”
Mason joins other Tristate communities that charge alarm owners for false calls. The cities of Cincinnati, Florence, Forest Park, Hamilton and Lebanon are among those charging alarm owners $25 to $120 for false calls. Hamilton, Lebanon and Florence are reviewing whether to increase fines, too.
Nationwide, about 95 to 98 percent of all private alarm calls are false, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The association expects the problem will only get worse as residents snatch up more alarms — today's high-tech version of bulky locks and big dogs.
Last year, one in five U.S. homes was electronically protected, according to the National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association. It estimates that between 1995 and 1998, consumers spent more than $33 billion on home security installations.
In Mason, police responded to 1,128 false burglar alarms from residences and businesses last year, nearly double the 594 false calls received in 1993. Already this year, police have answered 225 false alarms, most of them from homes.
Chief Ferrell attributes the increase to the city's population and housing explosion over the past 10 years. Mason's population leaped from 11,450 in 1990 to 18,850 in 1998, and city engineers granted more than 600 residential housing permits last year.
Some new homes, which can range in price from $200,000 to $1.5 million, are coming equipped with alarms.
“Alarms have become commonplace in newer homes as well as older homes,” Chief Ferrell says.
Police say there are three main causes for false alarms: technological errors, installation errors and user errors. User error is most common, causing more than 75 percent of false alarms.
A typical home burglar alarm works like this: The homeowner punches a numerical code into a box to activate the system. An alarm sounds if doors or windows are opened or if motion detectors register movement.
Once an alarm is triggered, a monitoring company calls the residence, and the homeowner answers with another code. If the correct code isn't given, or the home phone isn't answered, the monitoring company will call police.
False calls occur most often when users are unfamiliar with the alarm's codes and operation, or when visitors are left alone with the system. Pets sometimes set off motion detectors. And some systems may be inadvertently triggered by weather, power outages or by someone simply knocking too hard on the door.
Besides taking police away from real emergencies, false alarms strain staffing, Chief Ferrell says. At least two officers, for example, answer every home alarm call because of the possibility that dangerous intruders may be present, he says.
“These runs can take anywhere between 15 and 20 minutes, which may not seem like much but can add up over time,” Sgt. Paul Lindenschmidt says.
“It's like crying wolf,” Chief Ferrell adds. Officers can grow complacent after answering repeated false alarms, and neigh bors may ignore an alarm that constantly goes off, he says.
Smoke detectors, which typically are tied into home burglar alarm systems, also can malfunction and result in false calls to fire departments. But so far, fire officials say that problem hasn't become grave.
Although businesses are the most chronic offenders of Mason's false-alarm policy, homeowners are starting to rack up the fines as well.
Terry Kahn bought her alarm system three years ago. She says the system is a sound investment but cringes at the idea of paying fines for false alarms.
Last summer, Mrs. Kahn went on vacation and entrusted her alarm code to a neighbor, who forgot how to punch it into the system when she checked the house. An alarm sounded, and police responded with a warning — this time.
“It seems to me like responding to alarms is part of a policeman's job,” Mrs. Kahn says. “Most of the time the false alarms are accidental, and I don't think people should have to pay for that.”
Some police agencies say that just as parking fines have not eliminated illegal parking, false-alarm fines won't eliminate false alarms.
Last year, Mason police collected more than $5,000 in false-alarm fines. Before the city's new ordinance took effect in January, alarm owners here were fined $50 for every false alarm after two false calls in a year. About 80 percent of fines were paid, city officials say.
The new ordinance sets fines of $50 for a second offense, $100 for a third, $150 for a fourth and $200 for a fifth, if they occur within six months.
Experts say improved technology and business competition have played a big part in the growing popularity of home security systems. The average price of a home alarm system has steadily dropped over the past decade, decreasing from about $1,500 in 1990 to $600 last year.
“With prices so low and fear of crime still so high, it's not unusual to see more homes protected than homes not protected,” says Dave Wilburn, general manager for ADT Security Services Inc. in Norwood.
His company's distinctive blue-and-white octagonal signs, which announce the presence of home burglar alarms, are planted in front yards throughout the Tristate.
“It's a totally different landscape now when you drive through these residential neighborhoods,” he says.
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