Release Date: Monday, August 16, 2010
Contact: Chief Richard Biehl, Department of Police, 333-1087
To help make it easier for property owners to register their alarm systems with the City of Dayton, the Dayton Police Department has now activated its on-line alarm registration feature.
According to Dayton’s False Alarm Ordinance, all alarm owners are required to register their information with the City of Dayton. Previously, alarm owners could register by calling the Dayton Police Department at 333-1237, but now they can choose to access the Department’s “Online Citizen Toolbox” at www.cityofdayton.org/departments/police/Pages/default.aspx and click the “Alarm Reg” icon. Owners can use the site to provide all of the necessary information and pay the $10 registration fee with a major credit card.
“This is just another way we are trying to make it easier for the community and the Dayton Police Department to work together,” Police Chief Richard Biehl said.
Other online services offered through the Police Department’s Citizen Toolbox so far include tracking crime trends, filing police reports for minor offenses, and bicycle registration.
With the new Alarm Ordinance taking effect August 4, Police no longer respond to alarms at addresses that have had seven or more false alarms within the previous 12 months. This move is designed to reduce the number of false alarms and limit the time and expense involved in responding to them. (The False Alarm ordinance covers burglar alarms only, not robbery, medical, fire or panic alarms.)
According to Chief Biehl, responding to excessive false alarms detracts from more important police work. “Dayton’s tax dollars are too important to spend on responding to repeat false alarms,” he said. “The False Alarm Ordinance allows Police Officers to focus on genuine crime instead of being tied up again and again in what amounts to another wild goose chase.”
During the five-year period from 2005-2009, a yearly average of 95 percent of all security alarms reported in Dayton were false. In 2009, the total number of false alarms was 6,911.
“The vast majority of the false alarms we receive are the result of simple human error or carelessness,” Chief Biehl said.
