2021-02-17 City Council Item No. 11.2 Burglar Alarm Registration Process Ordinance and Fee Resolution Presentation Regular MEETING - Additional Meeting MaterialsMenifee
Police
DePartMent
Captain Dave Gutierrez
Burglar Alarm Registration Process
Ordinance and Fee Resolution
February 17, 2021
Public Hearing
Item 11.2
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•Every year, law enforcement responds to a significant
number of false alarms
•Menifee False Alarm Stats:
•3,560 in 2018
•3,603 in 2019
•On average, RSO responded to 9.8 false alarm calls per
day or 3,581 per year
Background
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•Between July 1, 2020 and January 28, 2021, Menifee
PD has received 1,881 alarm calls.
•1,635 were dispatched to patrol officers
•Only 18, or .95% were found to be legitimate
•931 Commercial / 950 residential
•62% of the commercial alarms were at repeat locations
•22% of the residential alarms were at repeat locations
•On average, MPD respond to 8.3 alarm calls per day
Background
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•A false alarm can be caused by a few different reasons
•User error / wrong code**•Faulty/malfunctioning equipment•Pets•Poor installation•Lack of maintenance to equipment
Once an alarm is triggered, the alarm company notifies dispatch to report the activation
Each activation requires a response from the Police Department
What Causes False Alarms?
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•False alarm calls pull from law enforcement
resources, which could lead to longer response
times to other legitimate crimes, and/or other
emergency calls
•The average time spent responding to and handling
a false alarm varies between 30 minutes and one
hour, occasionally longer depending on the incident
•All alarm calls require a minimum two officer
response for officer safety
•Approximate fiscal impact is $200.00 per response
False Alarm Impacts
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•The purpose of this Ordinance is designed to
minimize the amount of owners who have frequent
false alarms
•This will be done through a permit process and an
escalating fee system
•Per location
•Benefits of registering alarms:
•Obtain alarm owner’s name to allow false alarms to
be turned off
•Provides PD with emergency contact information in
case of a true emergency
Alarm Registration / Permit
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Alarm Registration / Permit Fees
Alarm Type Year Cost of Fee
Residential 1 $25
Residential 2 +$10
Residential Non-Compliance Penalty $50*
Commercial 1 $35
Commercial 2 +$20
Commercial Non-Compliance Penalty $60*
Persons aged 55 and better
(Residential Only)
1 +NO FEE
*Alarm permit fee will be deducted from this amount
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False Alarm Penalty
False Alarm Type # of Alarm Cost of Fee
Residential/Commercial First No Charge –Issue order to comply
Residential/Commercial Second $25
Residential/Commercial Third $100
Residential/Commercial Fourth $200
Residential/Commercial Fifth & Subsequent $300
False Alarm Response Fees for False Alarms Occurring Within a 365-Day Period
Alarm owners who accidently set off newly installed alarms will not be penalized, nor will owners of
alarms in which there may have been a break-in attempt, but the burglar had since fled
*Discretion 8
Comparison
CITIES 1ST FALSE ALARM 2ND FALSE ALARM 3RD FALSE ALARM 4TH FALSE ALARM 5TH FALSE ALARM 6+ PERMIT -YEAR 1 RENEWAL
CHULA VISTA $100.00 $200.00 $500.00 $28.75
CITRUS HEIGHTS $0.00 $75.00 $150.00 $200.00 $250.00 $50.00 $15.00
FULLERTON $0.00 $0.00 $55.00 $155.00 $231.00 $44-R/$50-SC/$100-LC SAME
LAKE ELSINORE $0.00 $0.00 $120.58-R/$220.10-C
MURRIETA $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $100.00 $150.00 $200.00
TEMECULA (FIRE)$0.00 $100.00 $200.00 $250.00
TEMECULA (PD)Currently not charging*
LAPD $216PP/$316U $266P/$416U $316P/$516U $366P/$616U $366P/$616U $48.00 $31.00
PASADENA $0.00 $147.00 $147.00 $147.00 $147.00 $126.59
SAN DIEGO $100.00 $200.00 $300.00 $400.00 $500.00 $10/$18 for 2yrs
VISTA $0.00 $0.00 $100.00 $200.00 $500.00 $50 -one time
MENIFEE $0.00 $25.00 $100.00 $200.00 $300.00 $25-R/$35-C $10-R/$20-C
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False Alarm Tracking
•Tracking includes:
•Number and location of false alarms
•Determining if penalties are due
•Collecting the penalties
•Staff recommends utilizing the services of an alarm tracking company
•Services would be performed on behalf of the City for a percentage of the revenues recovered
•The Police Department would submit false alarm information to the alarm tracking company
•Staff prepared a Request for Proposals for a third-party security alarm systems management service
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Staff Participation
•The proposed Ordinance is designed to reduce unnecessary
burden to City staff, while promoting the most effective
reduction in false alarms
•Appeals to the false alarm penalties and/or denial or
suspension of alarm permits would be directed to the
appropriate staff as noted in the Ordinance for resolution
•A hearing filing fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) will apply
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Outreach
•In partnership with Economic Development, we conducted a small business virtual information meeting
•Met with the Chamber to advise of the Ordinance
•Will be doing social media
•Economic Development will be sending out an email to all business license holders
•We will be reaching out to all alarm installer business license holders
•Article in Menifee Matters
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Timeline
•February 17th –1st reading
•March 3rd –2nd reading
•30-day waiting period –April 3rd
•6-month grace period –effective October 3rd
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Fiscal Impact
•The accompanying Resolution will allow the City to recover a portion of the costs associated with responding to false alarm calls by Police, as well as additional revenues from alarm permit fees
•Due to the implementation of the permit program and fee structure being established in the latter part of the start-up year for the Menifee Police Department, the revenues generated are expected to be minimal as the City must conduct outreach to notify residents of the permit program
•Revenue for this program is not included in the FY 20/21 budget, and any such revenue received will be evaluated to determine if a budget adjustment is warranted
•Future years will include a revenue line item within the submitted annual fiscal year budget document
•There is no negative impact to the General Fund
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Menifee
Police
DePartMent
Questions ?
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