My burglar alarm went off & the city is going to charge me $125

I was at work and I got a call from my alarm company, telling me that they were getting an alarm from my house. They asked me if I wanted them to call the police and I said yes. I also called my dad, and he said he'd come over too.

So I drive home from work, meet my dad here and find a note from the police on my door. They've checked the exterior and found no signs of forced entry.

However, the door jamb is all scraped up now, and these scrapes weren't there before. I think someone tried to push at my door and tripped the alarm. And the police says that's a false alarm - under a new municipal code there's no warning or anything.

I could elect to go to "burglar alarm school" at the Public Safety Building, and doesn't that sound like a load of fun. :eyes:

I guess in the future, it would help to be clairvoyant and just *know* when someone's really breaking into my house for real. Or else I'll just come home and confront the burglars myself. Yeah, that sounds like a great plan. :grr:

I mean they are usually the ones pushing for alarm systems to be installed, they should claims for 'false alarms' or in this case 'alarms that go off when they should but frighten away the crooks before the police get there, thus serving the purpose for installing the alarm.'

However, my deductible is more than $125. :(

If that's an option. I mean, even speeders get their day in court right?

BTW- I'm glad that nothing was stolen or worse.

:hi:

I was envisioning coming home to a disaster area when I got the call... :hi:

The new municipal codes sounds screwy.

I'm also cheap enough (or broke enough -take your pick!) that I'd opt for that burglar alarm school.

First I'll fight it.

I can hardly wait for Alarm School! I'll be the head of my class! :sarcasm:

Bring photos of your storefront (that was you, right?) and the car. Tell them that the burglar alarm was tripped, and yet you still ended up at burglar alarm school.

Have some fun with it.

Too bad that happened in another city than this one, but that would be too funny! :D

I may just take those pics with me anyway. :hi:

:grr:

Well, I say that every day. :(

:)

It was LIN!!! He came by a day early and set off the alarm. :eyes:
:argh: :grr: :mad:

He just left a message on my parents' voice mail. :grr:

That whackjob.

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Just disconnect the burglar alarm. Yeah.

:hi:

I see a radio talk show in your future! :hi:

:rofl:

and challenge the fine. We had an alarm system for our store. Every so often a false alarm would be triggered. They threatened to fine us and we said..."prove there was no attempt to enter." They never could we never paid.

Thanks. I hope I can fight it. But somehow I picture myself as a student in Alarm School. :(

take pics of the scraped door jamb and take it to court. if that doesn't work i'd go to the school.

That just because your burglar alarm went off, it doesn't give them the right to fucking rob you!

oh and take a picture of the scratched up door-jamb because it looks like it was NOT a false alarm.

NOTICE TO THIEVES..

In case of attempted robbery, please at least break a window before you leave..

I thought tax money was supposed to pay for police protection.

I recently had a truck on the street that was sideswiped, hit and run late Saturday evening. The hit and run driver lost their side mirror and front head light and panel. From my quick review of the material on the street I determined the hit and run driver was in a 1997 Blue Saturn. The cop shows up and I explain to him what I found and he tells me this is not CSI, it is the DSM PD. He tells me they will file a report, but not do much of anything ... he takes the side mirror that I found. So, I do a bit of investigating on my own and I need the mirror to take to the Saturn dealership to see if they can trace it. The police dept threw it away!!!!!! So, not only did they do nothing, but they hindered my own investigation. Plus, now my insurance is stuck with $6500 in repair charges, I have to pay a $500 deductible and pay for a rental car for two weeks.

At what point did police departments stop doing their job and then charging us for it????

Isn't it amazing:puke:

My 2 cents as a police officer:

First of all - sorry you had a bad experience with your alarm situation/possible burglary attempt.

However.

98% of burglar alarms are false and use up an incredible amount of police resources - majority of those alarms are caused by faulty equipment, the weather (storms and lightening), user error, and sometimes pets. Not to belittle your possible attempted entry by a burglar but the police did not know that the damage to your door might be new and were following policy. I have been an officer for almost 20 years and rarely made a call on a burglar alarm that was legitimate. I can not tell you how many rainy nights I spent going from false alarm to false alarm, trooping through people's yards in the pouring rain only to find out that the electrical storm had activated their alarm. My City now has a limit on false alarms - once you reach that limit you will be fined.


Examples from a Recent Study by the Center for Problem Oriented Policing:

Every year, Chicago police respond to more than 300,000 burglar alarms, 98 percent of them false, which translates to the equivalent of 195 full-time police officers.

Estimates show between 18 and 21 million security alarm systems in the United States, and 15 million of these are monitored.

In the United States in 1998, police responded to approximately 38 million alarm activations, at an estimated annual cost of $1.5 billion. Most of the activations were burglar alarms.

Each false alarm requires approximately 20 minutes of police time, usually for two officers. This costs the public as much as $1.5 billion per year in police time.

In Los Angeles in 1998, police received 3,000 alarm calls per week, with a yearly average false alarm rate of approximately 97 percent, representing the equivalent of 41 officers working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

So, while alarm systems may have some benefit for alarm owners as part of an overall security package, the question remains whether non-alarm owners in the community should shoulder a share of the cost.

The full report can be found here:

http://www.popcenter.org/Problems/problem-false-alarms.htm

Just my 2 cents or whatever is left after a day at work...

Be safe.

When you're not around.

Do you realize how easy it is for a knowledgable burglar to circumvent an alarm system? Two minutes, if they know what they're doing, tops. Talk to any housebreaker, they will all tell you that they'd much rather deal with an alarm system any day, and will leave that house with the big bad dog alone.

Besides, with those wonderful sneak and peek warrants authorized by the Patriot Act, a dog again is a wonderful detrement. Whereas your security provider will calmly let the authorities in, and not inform you of it, a dog doesn't care if the person breaking in is a burglar or the FBI, they just know that it isn't you, and react accordingly.

in residences. The fourth one is something like $100 and the max is $500 but I don't know how many false alarms that would involve. There's no charge if it was due to a power failure or any other external cause beyond the homeowner's control.

When I was in high school and living with my parents, we had the three-alarm policy. I think you only got three false alarms ever and then they started charging you.

This is the first one I've ever gotten. Sheesh. You'd think they could cut a little slack. :shrug:

Isnt't that what the flipping alarm IS SUPPOSED TO DO???

Holy crap, don't let them get away with this.

the run away bride should be fined? How many police were put on her false alarm?

It was all over the MSM and the whole world was watching.

:eyes:

It was a hoot!