Brookhaven Takes Sandy Springs Lead, Will Fine Dealers for False Alarms
The false alarm ordinance also requires dealers to obtain a permit to operate in the city and to register their customers’ information with the city.
The measure, which took affect Jan. 1., is intended to reduce the thousands of false alarms Brookhaven Police respond to in a year.
BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — City officials here have adopted alarm-ordinance rules inspired by a measure in Sandy Springs Ga., that mandate alarm dealers pay fines to the city of Brookhaven for repeated false alarms rather than their customers.
The measure, which took effect Jan. 1., is intended to reduce the thousands of false alarms police respond to in a year, according to city officials.
As reported by reporternewspapers.net, the new restrictions on alarm companies follows the lead of Sandy Springs, which implemented a similar ordinance that targets security companies and not homeowners and businesses. A bitter battle broke out last year between Sandy Springs and the security industry, which challenged the ordinance in federal court.
In Brookhaven, security companies are receiving warnings starting Jan. 1 for the first two false alarms reported, and will have to start paying $125 for a third offense and then $250 for the fourth and successive offenses.
Alarm companies will also be fined for other violations, including $250 for not verifying if an alarm is truly signaling an intrusion, $250 for not registering and providing a list of all alarms in operation in the city, and $100 for not notifying the city before installing a security alarm.
The Brookhaven City Council voted in 2017 to issue warnings to security companies and then make them pay increasing fines for frequent false alarms, according to reporternewspapers.net. Between 2016 and 2017, police responded to nearly 4,000 false alarms – more than 98% of total alarm calls – costing taxpayers close to $195,000, according to police statistics.
The false alarm ordinance also requires security companies to obtain a permit to operate in the city and to register their customers’ information with the city.
The city’s false alarm ordinance went into effect Jan. 1, 2018, but city officials later decided not to implement monetary fines until Sept. 1.
But the city of Sandy Springs got hit with a federal lawsuit in March by Georgia Electronic Life Safety & System Association (GELSSA) and two Georgia alarm companies, which claimed the Sandy Springs ordinance violates their constitutional right to due process.
Brookhaven officials, fearful of being dragged into the Sandy Springs lawsuit, voted in August to again delay fining security companies until December to wait for a possible ruling.
False alarms did not slow in Brookhaven throughout 2018, Police Chief Gary Yandura told the City Council at its Dec. 11 meeting, and the council agreed the city should start issuing fines and fully implement the 2017 ordinance. The city chose to begin doing so on Jan. 1, 2019.
The federal lawsuit against Sandy Springs was dismissed Dec. 12.
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