SIAC is engaged in pushing legal action against Sandy Springs, GA for its alarm ordinance that forces security companies to pay for its customers’ fines. Surrounding jurisdictions pay close attention to these types of activities, both good and bad. The goal for the industry is to repeal the ordinance. At the same time, Brookhaven, GA, has chosen to follow in Sandy Springs’ footsteps and plans to begin fining alarm companies for its customers’ false alarms beginning January 1, 2018.
For all dealers across the country, what happens in Georgia can happen in your city and state. Tracking these ordinances and challenging these unlawful provisions are costly. Please go to our website at http://siacinc.org/donate.aspx and help support our programs!
SIAC does not cry wolf. We follow critical local issues like this one, then share information and warn when appropriate. We’ve been warning about the growing threat of jurisdictions making security companies responsible for the false alarms of their customers. These types of local actions, if left unchallenged, present a threat to the electronic security industry. Without intervention, you have situations arise like Brookhaven.
What does all this mean to our industry? Security companies serving Brookhaven MUST get involved. Local involvement is critical because elected representatives will be most responsive to those companies operating locally. Write to your city representatives. Testify before the city council. Write a letter-to-the-editor and submit it to the Brookhaven Patch or the Brookhaven Post. You have a voice. Use it to help others become aware of why fining alarm companies does NOT make sense for the community – it is similar to making automobile manufacturers responsible for speeding tickets of drivers.
SIAC’s resources are available to help. Our goal is to drive down unnecessary alarm dispatches — educate customers of security companies, share information, work with local authorities to adopt strong and enforceable alarm ordinances. If we do that, the need for any fines decreases.