City Council to consider ordinance regarding false alarms

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The Menifee City Council will hold a public hearing on Wednesday to consider a proposed ordinance to establish a registration, fee, and educational system regarding burglar alarms in the city.

The ordinance is designed to reduce the great number of false alarms to which Menifee Police Department officers have had to respond, taking resources away from their normal duties. According to the proposal, Menifee PD received 1,881 alarm calls from July 1, 2020 through Jan. 28. Of those, 1,635 were dispatched to officers. Of the 1,881 calls, only 18 – less than 1 percent – were found to be legitimate alarms.

On average, officers are responding to 8.3 alarm calls per day. Of the total, 63 percent of commercial burglar alarm calls came from repeat locations. City documents state the response to false alarms could result in manpower costs up to $234 per hour, taking into account officer response, dispatcher, records tech, and vehicle costs.

According to Dominique Samario, public information officer for the City of Menifee, Menifee PD officials have stated that most of the alarm calls are unintentional and could be avoided.

“The reason behind the vast majority of false alarms is user error,” Samario said. “For instance, for commercial businesses there are often multiple employees and they may not all know the alarm code or know that the alarm system will be on or don’t know the password when called to verify the validity of the alarm.

“At residential properties, examples of user errors that lead to false alarms include that owners may have an animal in the house and they didn’t place the alarm in pet mode, or homeowners didn’t remember to set the alarm to night mode.

“Menifee PD and the City will be doing outreach to educate people on easy fixes to some of these issues and encourage businesses and residents with alarm systems to get to know their alarm system and some of the common errors that lead to false alarms. We are hopeful that for many, with education they will be less likely to ever set off a false alarm.”

The ordinance proposal includes a system in which businesses would register their burglar alarm for a $35 fee ($20 for two alarms). For residential alarm systems, the registration fee would be $25 ($10 for two alarms). A non-compliance fee of $60 ($50 for residences) would be imposed.

“The reason for requiring alarms to be registered is to obtain the alarm owner’s name to allow false alarms to be turned off,” the proposal states. “In addition, registration/permitting provides the Police Department with emergency contact information in case of a true emergency.

“Alarm registration and permitting requirements vary dramatically from city to city. In some cities, the alarm owner is required to register the alarm upon installation. This provides the police with emergency contact information on alarm systems. In others, registration is never required.”

The ordinance will allow for one false alarm per year without a fine being imposed. After that, the proposed fine would be $25 for the next offense, then $100, $200 and $300 for additional violations.

“Ultimately, Menifee Police Department wants to create a program that reduces the instances of false alarm responses and enhances the partnership between residential and commercial alarm owners,” said Police Chief Pat Walsh. “The ultimate goal is that there are no more false alarms and our Menifee Police Department is spending their time serving the community.

“One of the nice things about a registration system is that we have contact information. Many alarms are not monitored. When we are called to those locations, we have no way of contacting the owner if there is a break-in. The proposed program is about reducing false alarms and providing better service when a crime has occurred.”

To help better inform business owners prior to Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the City has scheduled a virtual information meeting for Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Business owners can access the link at this link. Attendees are asked to RSVP by emailing econdev@cityofmenifee.us or calling 951-723-3712.