05-12-03 Health & Public Safety - Laserfiche WebLink

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Health and Public Safety Committee May 12, 2003 Page 2 Council Member Kelly asked what were the results from the other communities. Lt. Powers stated that Evansville was the first to regulate in this area and that it reduced its false alarm rate by 35- 37%in the first six (6) months. Lt. Powers then identified the following measures which increase the rate of false alarms: 1. New employees are not given the proper code 2. Alarm codes are not given to janitors and cleaning crews 3. Coaches and teachers going in and out during extra-curricular activities are tripping alarms at the various schools. Ann-Carol Nash of the City Attorney's Office then circulated a 2nd substitute bill. The Council Attorney noted that it included three (3)3 changes which she recommended which$ h h were summarized as follows: 1. On page 1 "(d) was added to Section 1 immediately after Section 4-17; 2. On page 3, Sec. 4-64 the words "to add a provision for licensing fees for Alarm Agents, which" was added to the introduction of that section; and 3. On page 7, Section 12-6 "payable to the Ordinance Violations Bureau"was added for clarification purposes. Council Member King noted that this proposed ordinance has been worked on for a long time and that it was especially notable because it was initiated by citizens. He noted that all of the members of the Community Oriented Policing Leadership Council of South Bend deserve to be recognized for their hard work on this important project. Juanita Dempsey of the COP Leadership Council of SB stated that she believes that the proposed ordinance is a very strong ordinance that is sorely needed. She stated that the alarm companies are behind it and that it should result in faulty equipment being corrected. Council Member Kelly thanked all of the COP Leadership Council members for their years of dedication on this project. Council Member Kirsits noted that he is a member of the South Bend Fire Department, however based on legal advise from the Council Attorney, he will be able to participate on this ordinance so long as he provides this disclaimer. He then voiced concern over the difficulty of staying at a location for longer than 15 minutes, sometimes over two hours, when a key holder refuses to come to the location when an alarm has gone off. He stated that he could name at least five (5) companies that just refuse to respond and come to the location. He noted that emergency responders are often needed elsewhere, and he believes that the ordinance is not specific enough in this area to allow such public safety personnel to leave in such situations. Fire Chief Luther Taylor stated that he believes that 15 minutes is adequate time for a key holder to arrive,unless a different time which is reasonable has been told that they would be at the location. Council Member Kirsits stated that the city needs to protect the officers at the scene. After much discussion, Council Member King suggested that this issue appears to be unresolved and suggested that the COP Leadership Council and Lt. Powdrs consider continuing the Bill so that this issue could be addressed at the next Council meeting.