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to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.2009 Brings Higher Philly Home Alarm Fees
Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 1:47 pm - by Stephanie Marudas. Filed under: Budget.
If you are a home alarm owner, the annual registration fee with the City of Philadelphia is going up this year. The fee is now $50- up from $35 in 2008. But why register your alarm in the first place? The biggest incentive, from what I can tell, is that you won’t pay a dime if your alarm goes off accidentally two times; whereas if you don’t register your alarm, you will face a minimum of $150 in fines for each false alarm. Registering your alarm system is essentially like insurance in that you get a discount once you have three or more false alarms. For each false alarm, you’ll pay $75, instead of $150 or more if you aren’t registered. The rationale behind why residents get charged for false alarms, more or less, is to help offset diverting police away from more urgent matters. Most false alarms are preventable, but it seems unfair to pay the fine if something like faulty wiring or a power outage trips your alarm. Last year, residents were actually permitted three false alarms at no cost. But under the current financial mess facing Philly, Mayor Michael Nutter reduced the number of false alarms allowed from three to two to help generate more revenue. (See Nutter’s budget cut plan, page 14).
You might be wondering how Philly’s home alarm fees compare to other places. Over in Norristown, (Montgomery County), there’s no fee to register your home alarm and you get off the hook for three false alarms. But any more false alarms, and the police can write you a citation ranging anywhere between $50 and $300. Across the Delaware River, in Cherry Hill, NJ- there’s no home alarm registration fee. But if you rack up three false alarms, be prepared to fork over $106. Any additional false alarms, the township summons you to court. Ouch. Down in Baltimore, residents pay $20 to register a home alarm, which is $30 cheaper than here, and there’s no cost for two false alarms. But the third false alarm costs $50, and residents pay an increment of $50 for each additional one. By the eighth false alarm, Baltimore residents are paying $300. It gets worse. After eight, the increment shoots up by $100, and eventually to $1,000 after 14 false alarms.
Anyway, if you want to find out more information about home alarm registration and related fines here in Philly, here’s the police unit number to call: (215)686-1584
January 6th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Don’t blame the cops, blame the alarm suppliers. Philly is getting off easy. Nearly all are unnecessary false alarms. Many cities are charging for each alarm response, no freebies and no exceptions. The reason is that alarm response is not a police emergency service. It is a service provided to your monitoring source, not to the taxpayer. Worse yet, alarm response has been down-graded to a “courtesy call” with very slow arrival times, or not at all. So if police don’t come to your alarm, complain to your alarm supplier, not the police. It is a go-fer job for monitoring firms who require a site inspection as part of the monitoring process to determine IF an emergency exists, not because of an emergency. That job has now been off loaded to the local police even though the monitoring source is paid to do the verification. Alarm systems are private contracts for private services, not public services. Don’t blame the cops, blame the alarm supplier.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:03 am
I think popeye is right. But don’t judge the author because he’s just want to sharing.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:01 am
Don’t blame the cops, blame the alarm suppliers. Philly is getting off easy. Nearly all are unnecessary false alarms. Many cities are charging for each alarm response, no freebies and no exceptions. The reason is that alarm response is not a police emergency service. It is a service provided to your monitoring source, not to the taxpayer. Worse yet, alarm response has been down-graded to a “courtesy call” with very slow arrival times, or not at all. I think popeye is right. But don’t judge the author because he’s just want to sharing.
July 28th, 2010 at 11:02 am
i’m sorry, but when you as a homeowner purchase and install an alarm system for burglar protection with the expectation your alarm company will notify you, your contacts and the police, you become solely responsible for the consequences. if you as a homeowner set off your alarm, it is not the alarm company’s fault you forgot to turn it off and answer your phone when the alarm company calls. It’s what your paying them to do.
The homeowner needs to educate himk/herself with how to operate the system, be proactive in having the system repaired as needed instead of shirking responsibility for his/her actions.