Fontana Police: PLEASE RESPOND to Burglar Alarms
What's Happening in Fontana?
The Fontana Police Department implemented a "verified response" burglar alarm policy on October 1, 2007. "Verified response" means that police will not respond to burglar alarms unless someone first confirms that a crime has occurred. The policy was first used as an experiment in Las Vegas, NV in 1991. Since then, it has been introduced to more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. Most have found alternative, successful solutions. Only about 30 ever adopted the policy.
Still some law enforcement agencies consider "verified response" as an option for their community because they are struggling with resources and a high number of calls for service. In Fontana, police want alarm companies to be the "first responders" to potential emergencies. While alarm companies can and do provide this service, 70 percent of alarm owners typically chose to respond to their own activations in a "verified response" community. This leads to a dangerous situation.
Besides the public safety concern, Fontana has had a long standing city ordinance requiring police to respond to burglar alarms. The police department’s administrative decision to stop response pending verification violates this ordinance. As a result, the Inland Empire Alarm Association and the California Alarm Association have filed a lawsuit against the city to stop “verified response.”
According to the alarm industry, serious public safety decisions such as this should be made in a public forum with public input. To date, the Fontana City Council has never discussed the issue with the community. That doesn’t mean citizens are unaffected, however. On the contrary, many are very upset about this unnecessary and dangerous change. As history suggests, many more will join their ranks when they too become Fontana’s next victim of burglary.
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Op-Ed by Richard Jimenez,
Inland Empire Alarm Association President
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To contact your city
council member and express your opinion or request public input regarding
“verified response,” click here.
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To read media coverage
of “verified response” in Fontana, click here.
- To review court documents related to the alarm industry/FPD lawsuit, click here.
Inland Empire Alarm Association:
(www.inlandempirealarmassociation.org)
Richard Jimenez, President: (richard@dctwo.com
or
951-367-0762)
Morgan Hertel, Vice President: (mhertel@thecommandcenter.net
or 951-739-6317)