City of Milwaukee - File #: 040620

• File #: 040620
• Version: 1
• Type: Resolution
• Status: Dead
• File created: 9/1/2004
• In control: PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
• Final action: 9/21/2004
• Title: Substitute resolution creating a task force to study the issues of false police and fire alarms and the City's policy on responding to private alarms.
• Sponsors: ALD. BOHL, ALD. ZIELINSKI
• Indexes: ALARM SYSTEMS, NUISANCES, POLICE DEPARTMENT

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
9/21/2004	1	COMMON COUNCIL	ADOPTED	Fail	2:13
9/9/2004	1	PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE	RECOMMENDED FOR PLACING ON FILE; Minutes note: Speakers: Deb Whirl - citizen Chris Utter - Alarm Industry South	Pass	4:1
9/3/2004	1	PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE	HEARING NOTICES SENT
9/3/2004	1	CITY CLERK	DRAFT SUBMITTED
9/2/2004	0	PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE	HEARING NOTICES SENT
9/1/2004	0	COMMON COUNCIL	ASSIGNED TO

Number
040620
Version
SUBSTITUTE 1
Reference

Sponsor
ALD. BOHL AND ZIELINSKI
Title
Substitute resolution creating a task force to study the issues of false police and fire alarms and the City's policy on responding to private alarms.
Analysis
With this resolution, the Common Council creates a 7-member Private Alarm System Task Force which is directed to study the problem of false alarms from private alarm systems, and to analyze various policy options for responding to private alarms and for penalizing or charging alarm businesses or alarm users for false alarms transmitted to the City. The Task Force shall present its findings and recommendations to the Common Council no later that 90 days from the date of adoption of this resolution. This resolution also requests the Chief of Police to defer, at least until release of the findings and recommendations of the Task Force, implementation of the policy of responding to activated private alarms only after a “verified response” from a private party (which is scheduled to go into effect on September 19, 2004), and to continue the alarm-response policy currently in effect.
Body
Whereas, On July 15, 2004, the Milwaukee Police Department announced that, effective September 19, 2004, it will not respond to a private burglar alarm unless a “verified response” to the site of the alarm has been made by the alarm business or its representative; and

Whereas, The Police Department has made this policy change primarily to address the problem of false burglar alarms, which consume large quantities of police personnel resources and increase response times to more serious calls for police service (e.g., in 2003, the Police Department responded to over 27,000 false burglar alarms (96% of all burglar alarms), which consumed 13,623 unnecessary personnel-hours costing over $1.2 million); and

Whereas, The Common Council shares the Police Department's concerns about the number and rate of false burglar ala...