Swampscott chief proposes new false alarm bylaw

SWAMPSCOTT – Town officials are looking to place an article on the Town Meeting warrant that, if adopted, would add a new town bylaw to regulate alarms. Police Chief Ronald Madigan pointed out the department responded to 1,009 alarms between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.”At least 99 percent of the alarms we respond to are not actual alarms,” he said. “The goal is to encourage people to make repairs to reduce the number of false alarms so we can make better use of police resources.”According to the draft of the article provided by Madigan, the police department would designate an alarm officer who would be responsible for the administration of the proposed program.Madigan said the alarm officer would be responsible for reviewing alarm activations, reporting on problematic alarms, service fee billing and acting as a community resource.The proposed article would require all alarms in town to be registered, properly installed and maintained to minimize false alarms. The proposed regulations would require alarms to have equipment, which would prevent sending out a false alarm in the event of a power failure.Madigan said the policy would impose an alarm service fee of $80 for residential alarms for the third and subsequent false alarms within a calendar year. The first two false alarms on non-residential properties in a calendar year would not be charged a fee, but for subsequent violations the alarm service fee would be $120 per occurrence. A malicious false alarm would carry a fine of $150 per activation.The proposed alarm service fees would not be subject to a formal appeal process. But Madigan said the police chief, fire chief or other designee would accept written documentation outlining mitigating circumstances for the false alarm and measures being taken by the alarm user to prevent future false alarms. He said the police and fire chief would be authorized to waive the fee if circumstances warranted it.The proposed bylaw is expect to be discussed at the annual Town Meeting, which gets underway on May 4.