11/09/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . , " Mr. Delay said it seemed the amendment would put an increased . burden on the City and also would be assuming servicing of that business by having alarms coming into the Police Department first. He said it would increase the workload for the Police Department and assume part of the services being provided by these agencies. Chief Brooks replied a good alarm system is the best intruder catcher there is. It had been the experience of the Police Department that the alarm companies are trying to catch the intruders. This action delays response time by the Police Department and sometimes endangers the life of any managerial persons who might be in the building. He said it has happened, also, that burglar alarm companies have called the building and end up talking to the intruder, who indicates there is no problem. He said these were the kinds of responses the Police Department wanted to reach without any delay. Mr. Delay again said the Police Department would then be assuming this service, but noted he was not opposed to that. He wondered if this would be actually duplicating the services already provided, and whether the City should be providing those services. Mr. Bradley left the meeting. Assistant Manager reviewed for Council that originally the calls were coming to the Police Department, with the resultant jamming of Police circuits, especially when there happened to be a malfunctioning alarm system. Staff had asked that calls go through an answering service so that incoming lines at City Hall would not be affected. He said the e present situation is one in which the alarm systems are calling the owners and the whole efficiency of the alarm system has been diminished. Some will not call the Police first, but call the owner. He said this amendment would be one way to make this service work in a more regulated manner. Chief Brooks reiterated that by calling the owner first, the alarm companies are creating a delay for the Police Department to respond. He felt the alarms should be reported directly to the Police Department and noted he would oppose having a private police source checking out the grounds of any business where an alarm had gone off. He again said the Police Department was being notified too late, and in some cases, not at all. Mr. Delay wondered if this was going to place an extra demand on the Police Department to respond, especially during the night shifts. Chief Brooks replied these were cases in which he felt the Police Department must respond. Mr. Williams wondered what percentage of the alarms that are now in use, do notify the owners rather than the Police Department. Chief Brooks estimated about half. Mr. Williams said then it seems that if a system was so unsatisfactory, the word would soon get around and people would jump to the opportunity to have the Police notified. Chief Brooks said that just is not happening. He wanted the Police Department to be able to respond to such alarms, to avoid endangering of lives and preventing any tragedy occurring. - 11/9/77--11 ~9 J