CITY CALLS FALSE ALARM POLICY SUCCESS 21 PERCENT RESPONSE DROP CITED FOR YOUNG ORDINANCE.Byline: James Nash Staff Writer Citing a 21 percent drop in false alarms, city and police officials on Tuesday pronounced the city's 3-month-old burglar-alarm response policy a success, even though LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. officers continue to respond to most false calls. Deputy Mayor Roberta Yang yang (yang) [Chinese] in Chinese philosophy, the active, positive, masculine principle that is complementary to yin; see yin, under principle. , Councilwoman Wendy Greuel Wendy Greuel is President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 2nd District. Greuel was elected in 2002 to fill the remainder of the term of Councilman Joel Wachs. She was elected in her own right in 2003 and reelected in 2007. and police commissioners said there's no need to scrap the policy, which says the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . should respond to no more than two
unverified burglar BURGLAR. One who commits a burglary. (q. v.) alarms at a home or business per year.
The much-debated policy has come under fire this year as LAPD statistics show that police continue to respond to virtually all alarms, that offending of·fend v. of·fend·ed, of·fend·ing, of·fends v.tr. 1. To cause displeasure, anger, resentment, or wounded feelings in. 2. homes and businesses are avoiding fines, and that technological glitches are hampering police. But city officials expressed faith in the new policy, which took effect Jan. 1. ``The dispatch policy (approved) last summer works,'' Yang said. ``So far there's been a 21 percent decrease in the department's response to alarms.'' LAPD statistics for the first two months of the new policy - March numbers weren't available yet - show that 96 percent of all alarm calls are false, the same percentage as under the former policy of automatically responding to all alarm calls. But the total number of alarm calls decreased by nearly 21 percent, and burglar alarms accounted for a smaller percentage of total police calls: 11 percent instead of 14 percent. In pushing for the police department not to automatically respond to burglar alarms, Chief William Bratton and others argued that alarms forced the LAPD to shift scarce police resources away from more important work. Alarm companies and residents - including many in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. - countered that a policy of ignoring alarm calls would leave homes vulnerable to break-ins. Greuel, who worked with other council members and officials to reach the two-alarm compromise, said it has produced mixed results so far. ``Part of our goal has been achieved,'' Greuel told the Police Commission. ``We have a long way to go.'' The City Council has yet to adopt new fines for homes and businesses that accumulate false alarms. Under current policy, an address gets two ``free'' false alarms per year; the third brings a $95 fine. City officials are studying a $115 fine for all false alarms. Police Commissioner Alan Skobin said that LAPD officials need to prod the City Council to adopt the new fines. ``That's really what we need done to fully determine whether this policy works.'' The Greater Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Security Alarm Association opposes the $115 fine as too high, said George Gunning George Gunn (born June 13, 1879, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, died June 29, 1958, Cuckfield, Sussex) was an English cricketer who played in 15 Tests from 1907 to 1930. Along with other notable batsmen such as Jack Hobbs, Frank Woolley and Phil Mead, he was one of a group who, , the trade group's liaison on the alarm issue. Gunning said alarm companies will challenge the LAPD to show that it actually costs $115 for police to respond to a typical alarm call. James Nash, (213) 978-0390 james.nash(at)dailynews.com |
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