By Sarah Coppola
Austin American-Statesman (Texas)
Copyright 2007 The Austin American-Statesman
All Rights Reserved
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin homeowners will now face stiffer fines for false alarms on home-security systems.
A 2005 state law allowed cities to increase fines for false burglar alarms, and Austin started charging slightly larger fines three months ago, said Anna Weaver, who supervises the police department’s alarm unit.
The Austin City Council will vote Thursday to add those changes to a city ordinance.
At least 300 other cities and counties have penalties for false alarms because “they’re a huge problem,” said Jim Cogswell, president of the Maryland-based False Alarm Reduction Association.
“In some communities, as many as 80 percent of homes have security systems, so even one false alarm for each is a drain on police and fire departments.”
Austin police responded to 23,800 false alarms last year. Homeowners used to be charged $50 for six or more false alarms in a year. They can now be charged $50 for four or five false alarms in a year, $75 for six or seven and $100 for eight or more.
The fine remains $100 for three or more false alarms on panic buttons, which signal immediate danger.
The permit fee for home security systems has increased from $25 to $30, and customers can be fined $200 for every false alarm from unpermitted security systems, Weaver said.
Violators are billed by mail, and people who repeatedly refuse to comply can be charged with Class C misdemeanors, which carry fines of up to $500, Weaver said.
Travis County fines $75 for “intentionally or knowingly” activating a burglar alarm and can charge customers with Class C misdemeanors for six or more false alarms.
Most alarms are routed first to a private security company, which contacts police if the homeowner doesn’t answer or can’t remember the system’s password, Cogswell said.
About 99 percent of all alarm calls are false alarms, he said.
Some cities charge false-alarm fines as high as $500 or require homeowners to attend alarm-use training, Cogswell said.
Cheap security equipment and poor installation cause most false alarms, said Dan Hall, owner of Hall Security Systems in Austin.
“Many of the better alarm panels have features built in to prevent false alarms,” he said, such as a 15-second delay that allows homeowners to turn off the system before police are called.
If the magnets that trigger alarms are placed improperly on windows and doors, that can also cause problems, Hall said.
Robert Sloan, owner of Sloan Security Systems in Austin, said human error is usually to blame.
Some homeowners forget their security-alarm passwords, let pets roam around homes that have motion detectors or forget that changes in heating systems can trigger the infrared on some motion detectors, he said.
The fines “seem reasonable and prudent,” Council Member Lee Leffingwell said. “If you’re having more than three false burglar alarms in a year, something’s wrong, and you should have to address it.”