City of Milwaukee will not respond to Alarm Systems as of 9/19/04
In recent weeks, the Milwaukee Police Department has sent a letter to Licensed Alarm Contractors in the City stating that as of September 19, 2004 it "will not respond to burglar alarm systems unless a verified response to the site of the alarm has been made by your alarm company. Verified response requires the alarm company or the owner or other responsible party to physically respond to the scene of the alarm and confirm that a point of entry and/or other serious problems may be present. If a response is warranted, police will then be dispatched."
The Wisconsin Burglar & Fire Alarm Association is opposed to this policy and asks you to call your alderman if you are a residential or commercial alarm system user in the City of Milwaukee.
The WB&FAA has issued the following statement to the Press:
The unilateral decision of the Milwaukee Police Department of July 15, 2004 to stop responding to alarm system dispatch requests, unless someone on site “confirms a point of entry and/or other serious problems that may be present”. This is poor public policy and not in the public safety interests of the City of Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (WB&FAA) would offer the following considerations.
The policy as described is not a “verified response” policy, it is a “no response” policy.
This is a public safety issue and communities that have adopted similar policies have experienced substantial increases in their burglary rates. These numbers may be challenged by local law enforcement but the numbers were reported to the FBI and published in the (UCR) Uniform Crime Report and can be verified by visiting http://www.fbi.gov/.
Communities that have studied the issue of police response have unanimously rejected similar efforts when time was taken to study the issue.
If the policy is so just, why has no public forum been developed to allow the voters to comment on the policy? In other communities, such as Los Angeles and Tucson similar polices were proposed, but after study by citizen groups other alternatives were adopted.
Even if the policy were reasonable, the short time given between the announcement and implementation does not provide adequate time to change long standing practices that the community has come to rely on. We ask that the city rescind its policy change and work together with the alarm industry and the taxpayers of Milwaukee to find better solutions.
There are alternatives that will accomplish the reductions that the police are seeking and yet will not punish those who are not part of the problem. The WB&FAA stands prepared to work with the Milwaukee Police Department to solve the problem of false alarms. The WB&FAA has a long history of cooperating with the police to substantially reduce false alarms. Recently, the WB&FAA attempted to initiate contact with the new Milwaukee Police Department administration to discuss issues including alarm reduction. These multiple attempts have been met with no response or “there’s nothing to discuss”.
Alarm systems touch virtually every citizen in the City of Milwaukee every day. From schools and churches, to grocery stores and banks, alarm systems watch over the safety of people and property. The City of Milwaukee itself protects its many properties with alarm systems. Alarm systems help the business community keep prices down and manage risk. They allow elderly people to live on their own and protect the safety and property of families every day.
The WB&FAA takes the position that no other responding agent is as well suited as a police officer. It is the threat of arrest that allows alarm systems to serve as the eyes and ears of the community in protecting lives and property. For these and many other reasons the Wisconsin Burglar & Fire Alarm Association strongly objects to a policy of no-response.
Visit the WB&FAA at www.wbfaa.org
