CITY'S ALARM RULES FIXED 2 'FREE' FALSE CALLS THEN FEES KICK IN.

Byline: Angie Valencia-Martinez Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Abandoning an initial plan requiring verification of break-ins before deploying police officers on security alarm calls, the City Council has approved a more lenient three-strikes approach.

Under the new ordinance, the Simi Valley Police Department will respond to up to two false alarms at homes and businesses in a 12-month period. After that, the break-in verification requirement would kick in.

``The goal isn't to punish anybody,'' said Councilman Glen Becerra. ``When the police aren't responding to false alarms, they're patrolling the community as a whole. That's making our community safer.

``I don't want my police officers writing up a false alarm report.''

Under the new policy, which takes effect July 1, break-in confirmation can be made by exterior and or interior activation of alarm sensors, audio sensors, motion detectors, a video feed, verification by telephone or a private guard, the ordinance says.

The ordinance requires alarm subscribers to pay a fine of $150 after the third false alarm within a year. The penalty would escalate for each subsequent alarm: $250 for the fourth false alarm and $500 for all other false alarms each calendar year.

The ordinance provides officers the option of responding to homes and businesses on verified response status between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. - when most false alarms occur - without verification, depending on their workload.

However, there is no guarantee and ``it is less likely that we'd go without a verified response,'' said Simi Valley police Sgt. Stephanie Shannon.

The city's local ordinance was last revised in 1989. And the number of false alarms have become increasingly problematic, officials insist.

For example, police received 3,584 alarms calls in 2003-04, of which 3,483 were false, with no burglary or illegal entry. Mirroring a nationwide trend, 98 percent of all alarm calls in Simi Valley are false.

The revised ordinance is expected to reduce the number of false alarm calls by about 50 percent, according to a staff report. The reduction would result in a savings of 1,742 hours of officer patrol time.

``The ultimate goal is to prioritize,'' Shannon said. ``To make our officers most available and offer the best quality of service.''

Police will still respond to robbery, panic, vehicle and medical alarms - as well as any business that handles firearms.

Residents who attended a community meeting in April worried that the original proposal opened the doors to criminals into one of the nation's safest cities. The community input was used in the final draft of the ordinance - including raising the penalties.

Angie Valencia-Martinez, [phone]

angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com