False alarms hit the big time
By Daniel Gelinas
Updated Wed January 30, 2008
The false alarm issue went mainstream in a big way when this article appeared in The New York Times last Sunday. The article basically outlines the issue and cites different false alarm policies throughout the East, nothing those of you reading this don't already know, but my favorite section was this:
"Not all towns see false alarms as a problem. In Westchester County, Lt. Robert W. Mazurak of the Bedford Police Department said his officers respond to about 50 alarms a week in Bedford, Bedford Hills and Katonah. Almost all are false. 'This is an important service we provide,' Lieutenant Mazurak said. 'We get to know where the houses are, and the people get to know our cops.'"
I love positive people. I'm sure some of you would love to have this guy in your police department.
I was confused by this paragraph:
Officials in Suffolk County chose another approach, beginning in May 2005. If a business has more than 16 false alarms within 365 days the company is required to fix the faulty alarm within 30 days or it is put on a do-not-respond list. False alarms are counted only if they are caused by system failure, not employee error, and homeowners are exempt, said Richard Dormer, the county police commissioner.
It sounds like if an employee triggers the alarm and police/fire respond it doesn't count as one of the 16 allowed alarms? Hmmm. I wonder how they track that? Speaking of tracking, I'm working on a story about a company that does exactly that: It takes care of all the administrative duties for tracking, enforcing and billing customers for false alarms. Keep your eye out for the March issue. (Was that plug too blatant?)
Comments