Date: Fri 10-May-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

alarm-ordinance-police

Full Text:

Panel To Sumbit Alarm Ordinance Proposal To The Council

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

The Legislative Council's ordinance committee has produced a third draft of a

revised false alarm ordinance, which it intends to submit to the full council

for approval. A public hearing must be held before a revised ordinance is

adopted.

The new draft was referred to the Police Commission at its meeting Tuesday

evening. The commission plans to address the alarm proposal at its next

meeting in June.

Acting Chief Michael Fekete told the commission that he could probably live

with the new draft of the ordinance although the ordinance committee deleted

some parts of the Police Commission's proposal.

Chief Fekete said he discussed the draft ordinance with Pierre Rochman, head

of the ordinance committee. The chief said he expects that a provision for

fines for violations of the alarm ordinance will remain in place, but he

doesn't expect council endorsement of a $25 biennial alarm registration

renewal fee.

"At least we've got something," said Police Commission member Robert Connor,

Jr.

"It's definitely moving in the right direction," said Carol Mattegat,

commission chairman.

At the ordinance committee meeting last week, Mr Rochman said he and committee

member Lisa Schwartz met recently with Chief Fekete to review the ordinance

which Chief Fekete was instrumental in creating in the mid 1970s. They also

discussed changes which the police department has implemented to try to stem

the growing problem of false alarms.

"There has been a change in procedures in the last six months which has had a

significant impact on the problem," Mr Rochman said. "As soon as a false alarm

occurs, a postcard is sent to the homeowner to notify the homeowner that the

police responded."

If the alarm isn't registered, the police send a notice to the homeowner and a

registration form with a letter which explains that alarm systems must be

registered, Mr Rochman said.

Chief Fekete said procedures were changed last year when there was a change of

personnel in the department's records division. There is now a part-time

employee who records and responds to each instance of false alarm.

"There's a whole system of notification and collection which was established

by Chief DeJoseph in late 1995," Chief Fekete said, explaining that when fines

aren't paid the bill may be sent to a collection agency or to small claims

court.

"Our new employee is doing an excellent job," he said. "Collections are up."

But it's too early to verify whether false alarms are dropping, he said,

because before the improved record keeping system was implemented many false

alarms probably weren't recorded.

Mr Rochman said he was inclined to do away with the registration process, as

the town of Fairfield did recently, but was dissuaded by Chief Fekete who said

it is important to be able to get ahold of a property owner when an alarm goes

off.

"We've had instances of alarms that have gone off for days," the acting police

chief explained. "One alarm went off all weekend until the police broke in to

cut the wire and then resecured the house. The homeowner was glad that we did

because the noise was driving all the neighbors crazy."

The revised ordinance would exempt all town departments and the Board of

Education from paying fines because paying such fines would only be a transfer

of money from one town agency to another. However, the ordinance would require

the name of a contact person responsible for taking corrective action. That

person will work in cooperation with the police deparment in reducing the

unnecessary dispatch of police and/or fire personnel to town-owned buildings,

Mr Rochman said.

The issue of false alarms has been bouncing back and forth between the

ordinance committee and the Police Commission for nearly two years. Former

Chief DeJoseph, who retired recently, had urged an updating of the ordinance,

explaining that each alarm requires a response by a police office and a backup

officer. According to the town's annual report, in the last fiscal year police

responded to 2,190 false alarms at a cost of more than 1,000 hours of police

worktime. Only 11 alarms were real.

The Police Commission proposed a strengthening of the ordinance, with heavier

fines, a better registration process and biennial fees that would help pay for

the salary of a full-time clerk to administer and enforce the ordinance.

"We're trying to come up with a revised ordinance that is palatable to

everyone," Chief Fekete said. "The ordinance had some sections which were

obsolete. But I'm still adamant about getting some registration fee, if it

becomes possible, to pay for a fulltime person."

The ordinance committee also has begun work on a new ordinance on underground

home heating fuel tanks. The committee agreed to ask Assistant Town Sanitarian

Martha Wright and a representative from a fuel oil company to come to a

meeting tenatively scheduled for May 30 to discuss the problem of leaking

tanks and the options for solutions.

The ordinance committee has undertaken a comprehensive review of all town

ordinances. They also have been requested to consider the creation of a scenic

road ordinance.