I have bolded the part that talks of police response.
Source
In 1997, the Fremont Police Department responded to more than 10,000 false alarm calls. Studies have shown that approximately 98 percent of all business and residential alarm calls in Fremont are false alarms. Since the alarm ordinance went into effect in March of 1998, false alarms are down by 32%.
As you can imagine, it takes a lot of time and resources to respond to so many false alarms! Since the typical police response to an alarm involves two officers for 20-30 minutes, these alarm calls cost the City of Fremont a lot of wasted time and money. The City believes this time and money could be spent in a much more efficient and productive manner.
In order to reduce the number of false alarms and create more time for police officers to respond to crimes and solve problems, the City of Fremont adopted the "Fremont False Alarm Ordinance." This new ordinance is designed to increase the education and accountability of alarm owners in Fremont. It provided an incentive for alarm owners to repair and maintain their alarms, train their families and/or employees on alarm procedures and seek assistance from the Fremont Police Department and local alarm companies to reduce false alarms.
A key element of the alarm ordinance is the requirement of an alarm permit. The alarm permit is an integral part of the ordinance because it requires alarm users to provide the Police Department with the names, addresses and phone numbers of three persons who can respond to the premises within 35 minutes if the need arises.
In the past, alarms have sounded for hours or days because the owner or other responsible person could not be contacted to close off the alarm. Having this responsible information on file reduces this problem and makes it easier for the police to contact someone who can reset the alarm and provide access to a home or business.
Every person or business operating an alarm system in Fremont must obtain a permit from the Fremont Police Department. The initial permit costs $40.00 and is valid for two years. The permit must be renewed every two years at a cost of $20.00. The revenue generated from these permits is used to help defray the costs of equipment and personnel to administer the ordinance and, more importantly, to train alarm owners.
For a copy of a
Permit Application Click Here!
(Requires Adobe Acrobat to Read)
The alarm ordinance also encourages accountability and responsibility by charging alarm owners for false alarms. The City of Fremont realizes that false alarms do occur from time to time. No alarm user or alarm system is perfect. People occasionally make mistakes and alarms can malfunction.
Therefore, two (2) false alarms in a 12 month period (beginning with the first false alarm received) are allowed and will be responded to without any charge. Citations will, however, be issued after the second false alarm. An alarm user who has more than three (3) false alarms in a 120 day time period may also be billed for excessive police service.
In order to deal with chronic false alarm problems, the City may suspend or revoke an alarm permit if there are four (4) false alarms in a 180 day time period, or five (5) responses by the Police Department in a 12-month period which did not require police services except to deactivate an alarm. Alarm users may appeal false alarm citations to the processing agency, and alarm permit suspensions/revocations may be appealed to the Fremont Police Department. Once a permit is suspended, alarm users must show proof they have corrected the problem within 30 days or they will be placed on a non response status. This means that the police will no longer respond to an alarm unless there is a secondary verification of an actual crime occurring.
The City of Fremont defines a false alarm as "a non-emergency activation of an alarm system due to mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation or maintenance, or the negligence of the owner, lessee or his/her employees or agents which result in a response by the Fremont Police Department. False alarm does not include activations caused by tornadoes, earthquakes or other violent, uncontrollable acts on nature."
We are also proud to offer a 2 hour alarm school here at the police department. We cover how alarm systems work, what is a false alarm, the causes and impacts of false alarms and how to reduce and eliminate false alarms.
