People with alarms on their homes or businesses face fines after three false alarms instead of the current five under a proposed city ordinance that already passed the first of two votes.
So, three strikes and you’re out $50 on the fourth.
But there’s a lot more to know about the ordinance designed to cut down on false alarms and allow Lubbock police to address actual crimes.
Highlights of the changes:
- Police do not charge for the first three false alarms. (It had been five false alarms with no charge.)
- False alarms four and five are $50 each. False alarms six and seven are $75 each. False alarm eight and up are $100 each.
- Alarm companies must try to reach the home or business owner (permit holder) twice before reporting the alarm to police.
- Alarms can sound for no more than 15 minutes instead of 20.
- A malfunctioning alarm must be repaired or deactivated within 15 days.
- A permit can be revoked for 12 or more false alarms in any 12-month period. It can also be revoked for not paying the fees.
- Appeals for permit revocation or denial go to the city manager instead of the Permit and License Appeal Board.
- Multiunit dwellings like an apartment building can have a single permit.
- Police can hire a contractor to manage alarm permits and paperwork.
Alarm calls are among the top four things police handle in Lubbock, said Seth Herman, police chief.
“I would suggest 75 percent of the alarm calls we respond to are false,” Herman said.
Last year, Lubbock police officers responded to nearly 10,000 alarms – each tying up two officers.
The trend is already downward, partly because of the growing number of people who have doorbell cameras. But Herman asked the City Council on Tuesday for the new ordinance aimed at reducing false alarms even further, which the council approved unanimously in the first of two votes.
If approved again at the next council meeting, it takes effect on October 1.
Alarm calls 2020-2024
2020: 14,019
2021: 13,526
2022: 13,514
2023: 12,768
2024: 9,829
“A large portion of these alarm calls are false and unnecessarily consume the time of dispatchers and officers who are needed for legitimate emergencies,” a written explanation of the ordinance said.
The Lubbock Police Department website said for July, the average response time for a priority-1 call was nearly six minutes (5:57). At two officers per call, and if 7,500 of the alarms are false, that works out to roughly 90,000 minutes or 1,500 hours of patrol time. It’s also more than 10,000 minutes of dispatch time – just short of 173 hours – for false alarms.
“It’s about allocation of resources and the safety of people,” Herman said.
The ordinance only applies to alarms reported to police. Audible alarms used for deterrence are not regulated under this ordinance.
Using contractor to manage alarm permits
Lubbock requires alarm systems to have a permit and those permits need to be managed and enforced.
The new ordinance allows the chief to hire a contractor saying it will free up at least one employee in the LPD records division.
Lubbock anticipates $120,000 of revenue from alarm permits in the proposed 2025/26 budget, up slightly from the current budget.
The information provided to the council on Tuesday said the ordinance has no fiscal impact. The ordinance allows a contractor but does not choose one yet.
How false alarms happen
Herman said equipment might malfunction, but most false alarms are because someone put in the wrong passcode for the alarm system, or someone is there with permission but does not know the passcode.
Under the new ordinance, alarm companies must try to reach the property owner or permit holder twice before notifying the police.
“That’s to avoid again these false alarms that we’re responding to on a repeated basis,” Herman said.
Nevertheless, if the alarm company cannot reach someone at the home or business, police will still respond. And even if the alarm company gets someone to answer the phone, the person must know the passcode.
“Unless the homeowner says, ‘No, it’s a false alarm,’ and can validate that they’re in fact the owner of that residence – the business … if that doesn’t happen, then then we automatically respond,” Herman said.
Herman emphasized if a homeowner or businessowner needs to go out of town, whoever has permission to be on the property needs the passcode.
High winds or thunderstorms can sometime trigger a false alarm. Those don’t count and Herman said police do not issue a fee for them.
And while a permit can be revoked for 12 or more false alarms, Herman said police would consider things on a case-by-case basis.
Dangerous false alarms
False alarms are also a safety issue.
“We’re allocating resources that we really don’t have to deploy, and it’s always two officers who respond to an alarm for safety purposes,” Herman said.
He made reference to a deadly incident when he was police chief in Midland in 2019. Officer Nathan Heidelberg responded to a false alarm.
“You had an alarm that was falsely tripped. And because the alarm company didn’t contact the owner to validate that it was an actual alarm, and not a mistake, one of our officers was shot by the homeowner and killed,” Herman said.
Proliferation of doorbell cameras
The false-alarm trends are already moving in the right direction. Herman suggested a possible reason – the proliferation of doorbell cameras.
“People are actually monitoring their residences remotely on their own rather than relying on alarm company,” Herman said.
He’s got a reason to think that’s the case.
“Because of the proliferation of a Ring doorbell cameras, very often we get calls from residents themselves saying, ‘Hey, I’m out of town, but I’ve got an alert on my Ring doorbell camera, and there’s somebody trying to break into my house’ or ‘stealing a package off my porch,’” Herman said.
