The New York Times-20080127-No Break-Ins- Just Incessant Wailing
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No Break-Ins, Just Incessant Wailing
Full Text (1049 words)A FEW months ago, the burglary alarm rang in the middle of the night at Kimtex Fabric Services, a Paterson company that dyes fabric samples.
The police department was alerted by Kimtex's security company, and the officers, joined by an employee, discovered the culprit was, in a way, a cunning cat burglar.
They came in and shined the spotlight around and they saw a humongous cat staring at them in the face, said Michael Petto, a company manager.
Apparently the cat had set off the security system's motion detectors, sparking the kind of call that is the bane of departments regionwide: false burglary alarms.
False alarms are a huge problem for us, said Lt. Anthony Traina, who said the Paterson Police Department responded to 7,626 burglary alarms in 2007. Less than a quarter of them legitimately required a police response, he said.
Indeed, the security industry estimates that 97 percent of burglary alarms nationwide are false. Alarms are set off in homes and businesses by animals, equipment malfunctions and errors by homeowners and employees.
The Security Industry Alarm Coalition was created four years ago by the industry's four major associations in North America to address false alarms. While the number of alarm systems has doubled nationwide over the last 10 years, the number of false alarms has gone down 44 percent, said Stan Martin, the group's executive director.
Police chiefs around the region said false alarms were expensive and time-consuming. At one point before changing how they dealt with false alarms in Suffolk County, on Long Island, the police estimated that they spent 20 percent of their patrol time on false alarms.
Chiefs also worry that the large number of false alarms can lull officers into complacency.
If a cop responds 10 times to a false burglary alarm, there will be that one alarm that might not be false and he's going to have his guard down, Lieutenant Traina said.
To address the problem, many municipalities require alarm systems to be registered and levy fines for false alarms, usually after a specified number of warnings.
Since Montclair started issuing fines in late 2006, false alarms have dropped 25 percent, the police there said. Last year Paterson sent out 583 warning letters and levied $81,440 in fines.
Kimtex had 14 false alarms in 2007 and was fined 6 times, prompting Mr. Petto to adjust the security system. The system is necessary, he said, even though the company has little more than dye and fabric to attract thieves.
About a year ago at Christmastime we were broken into three times, Mr. Petto said. The alarm system was not working, and a computer and tools were stolen.
The borough of Ridgefield has had a fine system for false alarms for a decade but amended its ordinance in 2006 so that if scofflaws do not pay the fines, they can be taken to court. Before the change, Chief Richard J. Stoltenborg said, about 10 percent of people paid; now almost everyone does. Furthermore, he said, when people are forced to pay fines, false alarms go down. There were 152 fewer false alarms in 2007, down to 917, than in 2006.
Officials in Suffolk County chose another approach, beginning in May 2005. If a business has more than 16 false alarms within 365 days the company is required to fix the faulty alarm within 30 days or it is put on a do-not-respond list. False alarms are counted only if they are caused by system failure, not employee error, and homeowners are exempt, said Richard Dormer, the county police commissioner.
The police will not respond to the alarm, said Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, and the businesses assume the risk at that point.
About 200 businesses are on the list, but they can be removed if they repair their system.
We wanted to see if administrative reforms would work and they have, Mr. Levy said. In 2007 there were about 9,700 fewer false alarms than in 2005, down to 113,000.
Not all towns see false alarms as a problem. In Westchester County, Lt. Robert W. Mazurak of the Bedford Police Department said his officers respond to about 50 alarms a week in Bedford, Bedford Hills and Katonah. Almost all are false. This is an important service we provide, Lieutenant Mazurak said. We get to know where the houses are, and the people get to know our cops.
That may be the rare exception. In Ansonia, Conn., the police chief, Kevin J. Hale, said the city's Board of Aldermen is considering increasing fines for false alarms and levying them sooner. The current $50 fines do not start until after the sixth offense.
When a burglary alarm is tripped, the system connects to the security company's command station and an operator calls the business or home to check the validity of the alarm. If no one can be reached, the police are called and a dispatcher sends officers, said Mark A. Visbal, director of research and technology for the Security Industry Association, a manufacturers trade group.
Mr. Visbal said technological advances had reduced false alarms. A few years ago many companies added video capacity so security company employees could see if it was Fido, not a burglar, that set off the motion detector.
In Montclair, home and business owners are allowed one free false alarm each year; the next carries a $50 fine, and by the fourth alarm, the fine is $200. In 2007 officers responded to 2,711 false alarms, but Chief David P. Sabagh said only four legitimately required a police response, like one where officers found a broken water pipe.
Chief Sabagh estimated that the reduction in false alarms had saved 500 hours of manpower, and through October, the town had collected $280,791 in fines and fees to register alarm systems.
This is not about generating revenue, he said. It's about reducing these so we're not running around wasting valuable time.
[Illustration]PHOTOS: SOLUTIONS: Left, Michael Petto, a manager of Kimtex Industries in Paterson, adjusted the security system after false alarms. Below, on left, Richard Dormer, Suffolk County, N.Y., police commissioner, and Steve Levy, the county executive. Since a policy change, Suffolk has gotten fewer false alarms. (PHOTOGRAPH BY KIRK CONDYLES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)(PHOTOGRAPH BY TIMOTHY IVY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)