Linda,

Please forward this information to all committee members. Thanks.

Moving forward and in an attempt to avoid confusion, listed below are the meanings of terms related to Burglar Alarms. Hopefully this will ensure that all committee members and others are on the same page in further discussions.

Non-Verified Alarm Call - When an Alarm Business (Monitoring Co. or Alarm Co.) contacts (calls) the Milwaukee Police Department for police response to an activated Burglar Alarm without first contacting their Private First Responder service to verify that a crime has been committed or is being committed at the alarmed site. These calls come in on the emergency phone lines to the MPD Technical Communications Division.

Therefore, a Burglar Alarm that is not first verified by a Private First Responder Service prior to notifying MPD is called a Non-Verified Burglar Alarm.

(See Public Safety Ordinance #105-75-14(g), Alarm Business Requirements.) Many of the Alarm Businesses that violate this ordinance by calling MPD with Non-Verified Burglar Alarms are from out of state. Due to the State Statute requiring personal service of citations to out- of- state corporations, citations are not issued.

False Alarms / Falsely Verified Alarms -

A False Alarm or Falsely Verified Alarm occurs after police are dispatched to an alarmed site that supposedly has been verified by a Private First Responder Service on the scene. Upon the officer's arrival, the officers determine the alarm is still a false alarm as the alarm has been falsely verified due to various reasons such as a contractor, homeowner, or other person on the scene that accidentally activated the alarm. In this instance the resident or homeowner is the violator, and after 2 false alarms within a calendar year, (105-75-15A), citations can then be issued to the resident or homeowner.

Thank you.