HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 1994 0720 CC REG ITEM 08PTO:
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Background
AGENDA REPORT
CITY OF MOORPARK
Honorable City Council
Mary R. Lindley, Assistant to the City Manager
July 15, 1994 (CC Meeting of 7/20)
Consider Opposition of AB 2876, Preemption of Local
Alarm Ordinances
The City Council is being asked to consider opposing AB 2876
(Burton) which would preempt local ordinances regarding fees and
fines for false alarms. The bitl is sponsored by the alarm
industry and is opposed by the Leaque of California Cities and law
enforcement agencies.
If approved, AB 2876 will arbitrarily establish a definition of
"false alarms" by exempting the following situations from the
imposition of fines or fees:
• Any police response (regardless of location) that takes
longer than 30 minutes;
• Any alarm generated by inclement weather or telephone
malfunctions, thus removing any incentive to fix faulty
hair trigger systems;
• Any alarm which is "beyond the reasonable control of the
alarm system user or the alarm company operator," which
could be defined in exceedingly broad terms;
• Any Alarm which was "aborted" within 15 minutes of going
off and more than 5 mi.nutes prier to police arrival at
the scene; and
• The second or subsequent false alarm generated within the
first 30 days of a system's operation when those alarms
took place within a 24 h,)ur period of the first false
alarm.
AB 2876 also sets limits on the dollar amount of the response fees
that a local government would be able to charge: $50 for violations
3 through 8, $150 for alarms 9 through 12, and $250 for false
alarms beyond 12. For many law enforcement agencies, these fees
are not enough to recover responsF costs.
Finally, AB 2876 preempts the decision making process at the local
level. For the aforementioned reasons;, D is recommended that the
City Council oppose the bill.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose AB 2876, Preemption
of Local Alarm Ordinances, and direct the Mayor to communicate the
City's opposition to the appropriate State legislative
representatives and committees.