[Music] hello I'm Sergeant Pete Simpson with the Portland Police Bureau calls come into 911 every day from security Alarm Monitoring companies but did you know that the vast majority of those calls are false alarms the goal of our 911 call center is to facilitate a quick response when emergency calls come in when false alarms happen it takes police officers away from responding to True emergencies false alarms are a waste of resources the two many false alarms are reported from your business or residence you may be fined and suspended from police response to Future alarm calls in your location the solution is to know how to operate your alarm system properly and prevent false alarms remember you make the difference when it comes to false alarm prevention hi I'm Vinnie ferreres I'm the alarm program coordinator with the Portland Police Bureau whether it's a home business or apartment we all want to feel safe and secure to protect loved ones possessions property as well as peace of mind a security system is a good tool alarms can alert you to Intruders and notify law enforcement while alarms are a great safety Aid they also require great responsibility as a former law enforcement officer I can tell you from personal experience how important false alarm prevention is not only to the police Bureau but the community as well you just push the on button to arm it when it comes to alarm systems the most important thing you need to learn is how to operate the system make sure you understand how your system works before the installer leaves contact your monitoring company and request instructions from them if you're having any difficulty with your alarm system tripping the alarm when your burglar alarm has been triggered your monitoring company should follow the procedures you have instructed them to follow I'm calling in regards to a trouble signal that once the call goes to the 911 Center officers will be sent to your location as quickly as possible the majority of all alarms turn out to be false caused by human error or equipment problems when officers are dispatched to the location of the alarm an assessment of the property is made if the responding officers find no indication of an intrusion or attempted intrusion they will leave the location and code the incident as a false alarm this process can take several minutes of the officer's precious time that may be needed responding to actual emergencies false alarms take away valuable time from police officers and may cause a delay when an actual emergency needs attention with the recently ization of marijuana marijuana businesses within the city of Portland's jurisdiction must obtain an alarm permit issued by the Portland Police Bureau prior to obtaining a marijuana regulatory license from the office of neighborhood involvement when you purchased your alarm you were required to get an alarm permit within 30 days of installation annual permits are $25 for residential locations commercial locations are $125 senior citizens who reside within the city of Portland 12 months out of the year and are over the the age of 62 qualify to have a residential alarm permit fee weigh however all locations are responsible for false alarm findes prior to using your alarm system you must contact the Portland Police Bureau at 503 823 0031 or visit our website at portlandoregon.gov SLP police alarms to start the process of applying for your alarm permit once you've received your permit number in the mail please provide the permit number to your Alarm Monitoring company alarm permits are non-transferable please notify the alarms Administration unit if you move if you have the alarm equipment disconnected or removed from Power false alarms are tracked by permit year permits are renewed annually with the first false alarm you will be sent a notification with the date and time of that alarm event second false alarms are sent a notification and a $50 fine third false alarms are given notice and a $100 fine fourth false alarms are sent the suspension notification with a $150 fine you may be suspended from officer response to Future alarm triggers if additional alarms are called in after a location has been suspended officers may still be sent to the location based on circumstances an additional fee of $150 will be assessed for each response determined to be false the Portland Police Bureau alarm Administration unit accepts checks or money order by mail or you can call our office at 503 82331 to pay by Visa Mastercard American Express or discover you need to know what to do to reduce and prevent false alarms one solution is to have regular maintenance performed on your alarm system by your alarm company replace batteries every 3 years make sure pets helium filled balloons fans heaters and plants are away from motion sensors also make sure all doors and windows close and lock securely ensuring sensors make good contact please contact your alarm company if you think your system is not working properly inform them of any changes that might affect your system for example if you're adding or removing DSL or Voiceover IP renovating or fumigating for insects always notify your alarm company and the alarm Administration unit if you change your phone number or emergency contacts if you trust someone with access to your location please teach them how to use the alarm system and provide them with information to cancel any accidental alarm activations mistakes can and will happen of course so would you know what to do if a false alarm did go off accidentally first of all Don't Panic the first step is to enter the disarm code to reset the system if it is available then enter your cancellation sequence next if you have not canel your alarm at the key pad you must wait for the alarm company to call you be sure that you and any other authorized users know the code or password hello hi this is alarm Central Station operator 20 can I get your passcode please EDD okay are you all right there yes thank you okay thank you very much I'll get you canceled out some alarm companies do not call on Panic or robbery alarm activations contact your alarm company for cancellation procedures for that alarm currently Portland does not require a two call verification system also referred to as enhanced call verification or ecv you may request your alarm company to follow this procedure when the alarm is activated your alarm company attempts to call at least two phone numbers to verify that there is not a true emergency this significantly reduces the number of false alarm calls into 911 please do not leave your location until you have canceled your alarm at the keypad or spoken with your alarm company you must always confirm that false alarms have been cancelled you may also choose to have your alarm company only call 911 when there have been more than one sensor triggered this procedure is called multiple Zone triggers I recommend that if you think this may be an option in reducing false alarms contact your alarm company in writing regarding setting up the procedures your decision to own an alarm system makes you a partner with law enforcement in deterring crime when police respond to an alarm signal from your system it is the same as if you had called 911 and asked for help alarm system users have the added responsibility in their Community to ensure that police time and resources are not wasted remember repeated false alarms could result in significant fines please use your alarm system wisely [Music] he [Music]