SIAC has officially removed its recommendation of No Permit-No Response from our best practices. We did this based on real situations where police did not respond to actual emergencies. Previously, if you did not have a permit, we believed the police should not respond.
Now, we believe the police should respond in all situations. Later, if it is determined that no emergency existed and there was no valid permit, then a fine should be assessed. This maintains police response in critical situations, and continues to put pressure on alarm owners to ensure they get proper permits. Additionally, alarm companies should work closely with customers to ensure they meet local permitting requirements.
Even if an emergency existed, the end user still needs to be fined for failure to have a registered alarm system. However, when the user is sent an invoice or issued a citation for the unregistered alarm, information should be attached (registration form and/or website address for on-line registering), allowing the user to register in lieu of paying a fine. All the police department wants is user info via registration.
Recently, we had another example in Dallas that reinforces our change in thinking. Police missed an actual break-in, classified it as a false alarm, suspended the permit, then would not respond to a subsequent alarm a week later due to the permit status. The site had upgraded to video and had video evidence of an actual crime in progress. The alarm company was told they would have to call 911 for a response.
We continue to have work to do to refine this procedure with local jurisdictions, like Dallas. We’ll push for full police response first, regardless of the permit status, to better ensure public safety.
We need your help, too, when ordinance changes are proposed in your city. Keep us posted on revisions. Go to www.siacinc.org, and visit our State Activity Report. Send us an email if you know of any changes. The lengthy list of recent actions will also keep your company up-to-speed on changes.