The Addison village president, not the police chief, will decide when a home or business loses the right to have police respond to its burglar alarms, the Village Board has tentatively decided.
Trustees on Monday approved first reading of the new alarm ordinance after making that change. They are scheduled to vote on the issue again Feb. 5.
The original ordinance provided that the Police Department could revoke permits for alarm users who not only have excessive numbers of false alarms, but who make no attempt to reduce false alarms. The police chief would hold a public hearing before revoking a permit. The proposed ordinance still directs the police chief to hold the hearing but requires him to recommend an action to the village president.
Trustees chose not to set lower false alarm fines for homes than for businesses on the advice of Dan Shapiro, assistant village attorney.
“There is no practical difference between a commercial false alarm and a residential false alarm. Both take the same resources to respond to,” he said. “If you set different fines, you run the risk of liability for unequal practices.”
If trustees approve the ordinance Feb. 5, each burglar alarm user would get two fine-free false alarms per year instead of the four false alarms allowed now. Alarm users would pay $25 each for the third and fourth false alarms; $50 each for the fifth through 10th false alarms; and $100 for each false alarm after that. The current ordinance provides for a $25 fine for each false alarm over four in a year.