 |  | | Mayor James Hahn and LAPD Chief William Bratton Discuss Proposed Policy at January LFIA General Meeting | |
In January, the LA Police Commission issued a controversial policy stating that LAPD would no longer responded to unverified burglar alarms. The Commission cited a 97% false alarm rate and a need to free up this wasted officer time for more on-street focus.
Subject to City Council modification, the current LAPC policy on burglar alarm response states:
- For robbery alarms, panic alarms, and verified* burglar alarm calls, an LAPD patrol unit will always be dispatched.
- For unverified alarms, a patrol unit will be dispatched until it has been determined that two unverified alarms have been false for a given address within that calendar year.
- After two false unverified alarms within that year, a direct LAPD dispatch will not be made, but rather a call will be broadcast to patrol units who will respond if and when they are available.
- The penalty for one false unverified alarm will be $95. For each subsequent false unverified alarm the penalty will be incremented by $50.
- For alarm users who do not have a Police Commission permit, these fines will be doubled.
- New alarm installations are prohibited without a permit.
- LAPC recommends that alarm companies obtain two phone numbers for each alarm user, and that alarm calls not be referred to LAPD until both numbers have been called in an attempt to contact the alarm user.
*A "verified" alarm is one that has been confirmed by someone at the location or through electronic visual inspection.
The Burglar Alarm Issue 2003:
- January: Bratton to LFIA: No LAPD Response to Alarms — With the support of Chief William Bratton, the LA Police Commission recommends that LAPD no longer respond to unverified burglar alarms.
- January: Janice Hahn on Burglar Alarms: Concerned that Neighborhood Councils not Consulted
- March: The BAT Force:
City Task Force Addresses Burglar Alarm Policy
- April: Three Strikes, You're Out:
Burglar Alarm Recommendation Submitted to City Council
LA Police Commission Dec 2003 Letter to Alarm Companies
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