April 19, 2007

Suozzi & Police Unions Urge Legislators to Reconsider Burglar Alarm Bill

-- County Proposal Aims To Reduce Number of False Alarms
-- 99.4% of all Burglar Alarms Turn out to be False Alarms, Costing $6 million
-- Suozzi Blasts Schmitt for Misleading Statements

Mineola, N.Y. - Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, Police Commissioner James H. Lawrence and leaders of various police unions today urged County Legislators to consider a modified version of a bill that would reduce the staggering number of false alarms in Nassau.

Of the 107,870 alarms the Nassau County Police Department received in 2006, 99.4% turned out to be false alarms. These false alarms come at a steep price to taxpayers, costing the County $6 million in police salaries and expenses.

The Nassau County Police Department submitted a bill that would increase fines for false alarms. It also encourages homeowners and businesses to obtain permits for their premises by imposing even steeper fines for not having a permit. Suozzi and Lawrence stressed that the Nassau County Police Department will respond to all burglar alarm calls, and that there will be no so-called “no-response list.” As always, residents and business are urged to call 911 in case of an emergency.

“This very important bill will better protect the public safety, increase police department efficiency and stop wasting taxpayer money,” Suozzi said. “We simply cannot continue to waste our police department’s resources, and put officers at risk, by having them rush out to more than 100,000 false alarms every year.”

“We need to find a way to reduce the number of false burglar alarms,” said Commissioner James H. Lawrence. “This proposal would go a long way toward accomplishing that goal while not compromising public safety.”

“All these false alarms are a colossal waste of police manpower, and this initiative will make the alarm companies and alarm owners more responsible for their alarms,” said Gary DelaRaba, President of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association.

Suozzi also criticized Legislative Minority Leader Peter Schmitt for his misleading public statements about the bill. In statements to the press, Schmitt said: “Next thing I guess they’re going to introduce a tax for a police car to come to your house to respond to a burglary. I guess there’ll be a fee for that too.”

“It is unfortunate that the Minority Leader chose to make extremely irresponsible - not to mention patently false - statements about this piece of legislation,” Suozzi said. “But I am hopeful that when he takes a fresh look at the bill, and discovers how it will increase public and officer safety, and save taxpayer money, he’ll be singing a different tune.”

The bill encourages businesses and homeowners to obtain permits for their alarms. Permits are important for safety because they allow dispatchers to quickly access crucial location information to allow for faster dispatches. “If you have a permit, you improve your chances of a faster response time from the police,” Suozzi said.

Currently, a three-year permit for a homeowner is $75 and a three-year permit for a business is $100. Fines for homeowners and businesses without permits will be waived if they submit an application for a permit within 30 days.

The four categories of proposed fines include:

• Homeowners With Valid Permits - For the first four false alarms, the homeowner would receive warnings. For the fifth and sixth false alarm, a $75 fine would be imposed; the seventh and eights false alarm - $100 fine; ninth and all subsequent false alarms - $100 plus a $100 surcharge to partially cover the cost of sending two police officers to the residence.



• Homeowners Without Valid Permits - For the first two false alarms, the homeowner would face a $75 fine each time; third and fourth false alarms - $100 fine each time; fifth and sixth false alarm - $100 plus $100 surcharge each time; seventh and all subsequent false alarms - $200 plus $100 surcharge each time.



• Businesses With Valid Permits - The business owner would receive warnings for each of the first four false alarms. For the fifth and sixth, the fine would be $100 each time; seventh and eighth - $200 fine each time; ninth and all subsequent false alarms - $300 fine plus $150 surcharge each time.



• Businesses Without Valid Permits - For the each of the first and second false alarms, the business owner would be fined $100; third and fourth false alarms - $200 fine each time; fifth and sixth - $300 plus $150 surcharge each time; seventh and all subsequent false alarms - $500 plus $150 surcharge each time.

Note: After one year, the slate is wiped clean; any residences or businesses with a list of false alarms will have that list reduced back to zero.