Program helped cut down on false alarms

Advertiser Staff

A program intended to cut down on the time police spend in responding to false burglar alarms has reduced the number of such occurrences by 10 percent from the previous year, or 20 percent compared with the all-time high of 33,000 per year.

Under the program, alarm owners must register their alarms and can be fined $100 for failure to do so. In addition, owners will have to pay $50 for each false alarm after the first three such incidents each year.

The registration and fines are expected to cover the cost of running the program.

Honolulu Police Department Capt. Debbie Tandal told the City Council's Public Safety Committee last week that police were happy with the results, which tracked the program from its start in August 2002 to August 2003.

"We did have quite a problem with the alarms, an excessive amount of false alarms," Tandal said. "There were over 33,000 a year and that equates to about $700,000 (in what it costs HPD to respond)."

In the first year of the program, there were about 27,500 false alarms.

Between March 2002 and August 2003, 21,757 homeowners got permits and registered their alarm systems — generating $438,790 in revenue from permits, renewals and service charges.

Another $123,750 was raised from fines and violations ranging from $100 to $250.

Police reviewed 17,728 false-alarm cases through August and 707 alarm owners successfully appealed their service charge.