The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HOW SANDY SPRINGS IS FIGHTING FALSE ALARMS
Thunder, wind, a barking dog: All have set of thousands of private security alarms in Sandy Springs.
The city has had enough, and starting nextweek, it will stop responding to emergency calls from 39 companies that have had false alarms and have failed to pay fines for them.
However, the alarm companies are fighting back. Last month, they filed a federal lawsuit claiming fines against the companies are unconstitutional.
Instead, they say, residents should be made to pay for any false alarms — whether or not user error is the cause.
“We all make mistakes,” said David R. Fuller, president of Safecom Security Solutions, one of the companies that sued. “Billing a security company is not an answer.”
Safecom had more than $4,000 in fines and is among the companies that will no longer have its calls answered if it doesn’t pay in the next few days. The city charges $25 for the fifirst false alarm, then $250 each for the second and third, and then $500 for the fourth or more.
Before the city’s ultimatum, Fuller said Sandy Springs’ stance made him not want to do business there.
Sandy Springs has about 105,000residents, and fewer than 20 percent of households use private security firms, said Sharon Kraun, a spokesperson for the city. There will still be 131 companies that are registered to provide the service in the city after the ban against some goes in toe ff ff ff ff f ff fe ct. Among thosewhose alarmswon’tbe answered are popular companies like Ackerman, ADT and Xfifinity Home.
In 2016, the city logged almost 12,000 false alarm calls and spent more than $775,000 in personnel costs on false alarm response, according to Sandy Springs. Last year, council members decided to fifine the companies, not the users.
“In making changes to the ordinance, the alarm companies challenged us to hold them accountable, and we are complying with that request,” Sandy Springs City Attorney Dan Lee said in a statement. “If an alarm user failed to pay his alarm company, how long would the alarm company provide ongoing service? This is no di ff ff ff ff ff ff e rent .”
In a release, the city said the companies were notifified at 30, 60 and 90 days of their outstanding balance and that unpaid fifines could result in a revocationof their registration. Eveninrefusing to respond to alarms froma number of companies, the city will still respond to fifire alarms, duress calls, panic buttons and direct calls to 911 911.
Ken DeSimone, Sandy Springs’ police chief, said at a Tuesday council meeting that the problem with many alarm companies is that they tie up police off iffice rs by making them respond to false alarms, preventing police from responding to real emergencies.
DeSimone said police responded to 135 total false alarms from March 24 to March 30. Since the ordinancewas implemented, the companies have been fifined about $475,000 by the city. Only $156,000 has been paid.
Kraun said efforts to reduce the number of false alarms have been “an ongoing struggle.” On the Sandy Springs Facebook page, residents vacillated between frustration with the companies and with the city.
“This is completely unacceptable,” wrote one resident. “Those of uswho dutifully pay our Sandy Springs taxes and have no false alarms are beingpenalized.”
Wayne Beck, CEO of A-Com, said the industry has no control over individual false alarms but is taking steps to reduce the number. His company has $625 in fifines but is not on the banned list.
“False alarms are not good for anybody,” saidBeck, who is also a party to the lawsuit. “They’re impossible to stop, but we’re working toward controlling it.”
Stan Martin, executive director of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition, compared the cityordinance to one that gave speeding tickets to carmanufacturers, not drivers. He said in some cases, what are considered false alarms are attempted robberies, where someone walks away when an alarm goes offffffffffff. And he said in no case does it make sense to charge alarm companies.
“You’ve got to assume they’re going to pass it on to the consumer anyway,” he said. “I’m hoping the city will get to somepointof common sense on this thing.”