41F-Burglar, Hold-Up or Other Alarms for Police Service Fee 2019

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Policy & Procedure Page 1 of 7 Lexington Police Department Subject: Burglar, Hold-Up or Other Alarms for Police Service, Policy Number: 41F Accreditation Standards: Reference: 81.2.13 Effective Date: 11/1/10  New  Revised Revision Dates: 1/24/19 By Order of: Mark J. Corr, Chief of Police GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND GUIDELINES On June 18, 2007 the Lexington Board of Selectmen unanimously approved revisions to the rules and regulations governing “BURGLAR, HOLD-UP AND OTHER ALARMS FOR POLICE SERVICE”; these changes are found under Article VII §187-58 through 187-95 and became effective July 1, 2007. Background: For many residents and business owners, alarms give them peace of mind that their property is protected. There are approximately 2,250 alarm systems in Lexington today based on a count of registered alarms. Since 1980, Lexington has had a bylaw authorizing the Board of Selectmen to make rules governing alarm installation and use. In 1991, Lexington implemented an alarm service fee of $50 to be assessed on the third and each subsequent false alarm in a calendar year. At that time, almost 22% of the police service calls involved alarms with 99.7% being false alarms. Approximately 5% of alarm systems generated the majority of the false alarms. In 2006, only 111 or approximately 5% of the alarm owners were billed for three or more false alarms. These alarm systems were responsible for 695 false alarms. After one alarm fee, 51% did not have another false alarm. After the second alarm fee, an additional 22% did not have another false alarm. Only 30 alarm systems had 5 or more false alarms in the calendar year and most of these were commercial alarm systems. What is a false alarm? A false alarm is any alarm where a responding officer(s), having completed a timely investigation of the alarm site, finds no reasonable evidence of a criminal offense. False alarms include avoidable alarms whereby the alarm activation caused by non-criminal behavior could have been avoided with simple preventative measures. Any alarm where there is a medical emergency or fire will not be handled as a “police” alarm regulated by this bylaw and is not subject to alarm service fees.