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Controversial New Haven Burglar Alarm Proposal Changing

The New Haven, Connecticut, Police Department is re-working a controversial proposal on burglar alarms that never made it past Board of Aldermen committees in 2004 and 2005. 

Police Chief Francisco Ortiz Jr. in 2004 proposed an ordinance amendment that would have barred police from responding to burglar alarms unless they were verified as real beforehand. That idea was staunchly opposed by residents, the security alarm industry, several aldermen and the police union.

Ultimately, the plan was rejected by the aldermanic Joint Legislation/Public Safety Committee.

A year later, Ortiz submitted language that would have set a flat $99 fine for each false alarm and maintained city cops as first responders to private alarms. That has since languished in committee.

The latest iteration would impose fines ranging from $0 to $250, depending on the number of times false alarms recur at a particular address. Alarm companies would have to pay a $200 license fee annually and subject their employees to mandatory background checks.

Police would still respond to security alarms as a priority-one call, Chief Administrative Officer Robert Smuts said.

The earlier versions of the legislation "did not go over very well," Smuts said, but a solution is needed because false alarms are draining police resources. "It takes the equivalent of eight full-time officers over a year to respond to false alarms," he said.

Enforcement would cost more than the city expects to recoup, he said. "This is not necessarily to get revenue," Smuts said. "The goal is to reduce the number of false alarms."

The graduated fee structure gives homeowners an opportunity, he said, to fix any glitches in their alarm system and to attend workshops to get one charge waived.

The police department would generate notices to property owners and if they do not pay the penalty, the matter would be turned over to the city's corporation counsel's office, according to the plan.

The aldermanic Finance Committee held a recent workshop on the newest proposed terms and will hold more meetings in the future before and if any action is taken.

A study of alarm patterns conducted in 2003 showed police responded to 11,000 bogus alarms. The Office of Legislative Services, which provides staff support to the virtually volunteer aldermen, conducted an independent review that showed 41 percent of the false alarms occurred at city-owned buildings.