Burglar alarm owners
should pay for dudsThe issue: The City Council is
considering a proposal to assess fines
for excessive false alarms at
homes and businesses.
THE nation has learned in the past three weeks that security can carry a hefty price tag. This has been a reality for many homeowners and companies that have alarm systems to prevent burglaries and for police departments that too often are called to respond to false alarms. The City Council is considering a proposed fee for false alarms that could promote efficiency and reduce such responses.The alarm system industry naturally opposes such fees but has begun to realize that they provide the best incentive for people to acquire and maintain reliable systems. An association of Florida alarm dealers is recommending a fee system that would allow businesses three free false alarms and be assessed fees -- essentially fines -- of $25 for each of the next three and $50 for additional ones.
City Councilman John Henry Felix suggests that homeowners and businesses each be assessed $15 for registration of alarm systems and an annual renewal fee of $5. Property owners would get two free false alarms but be charged $50 for each subsequent cry of the wolf. Those amounts are in line with typical charges for false alarms across the country and in Canada. The ordinance would not apply to car alarms.
A study by the alarm industry and the International Association of Chiefs of Police found that 80 percent of police dispatches answering false alarms come from 20 percent of the systems. In four out of five cases, false alarms were caused by users and were correctable by alarm system dealers. Commercial systems have a dispatch rate triple that of residences, and the rate for banks, schools and municipal buildings is even higher.
"People don't realize that when you get an alarm call, it's a high-priority call," says Honolulu police Capt. Debbie Tandal. "It's not a regular parking violation, so police respond in an emergency manner."
Mary Paulson, president of Security One Inc., warns against "casting a big net to capture a few offenders." However, the proposed net of registered alarm system owners, who number about 25,000 on Oahu, is no different than other registrations, such as those of gun owners, property owners or drivers. The penalties would be levied against those who repeatedly cause police to embark on futile pursuits.
Robert Bean, owner of Alert Alarm of Hawaii and head of the Hawaii Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, who opposes fees and fines, says, "The problem is systems installed poorly by unlicensed contractors." Fines for excessive bogus alarms would cause people to take more care in having good alarm systems installed in their homes and businesses.
Illegal sales of liquor
to minors taper offThe issue: The state Health Department
says enforcement efforts are working
to reduce violations of the law.
A sharp decrease in the number of illegal sales of alcoholic beverages to minors on Oahu suggests that awareness programs and random inspections are making significant inroads. Authorities should continue their enforcement efforts, focusing on the businesses where a survey shows young people are more likely to attempt to buy liquor.The state Department of Health reports that during March and April 19.2 percent of retail outlets sold alcohol to underage buyers, a substantial decrease from the 39.3 percent that did last year. When decoys of youths under the legal drinking age of 21 attempted to buy liquor at 308 randomly selected stores, nearly 81 percent turned them away.
Awareness of the law appears to be a key factor. Stores that posted warning signs and promotional materials were less likely to sell to minors than were those without them. Fewer illegals sales were made in stores that checked identification.
A clerk who sells alcohol to a minor faces a fine of up to $2,000 and up to a year in jail. The store owner or licensee faces a fine of up to $2,000 and revocation or suspension of the liquor license.
Underage drinking is a serious problem. The Centers for Disease Control reports that nationally 79 percent of high school students have had at least one drink in their lifetime and that more than 31 percent have had a drink before they were 13 years old. In Hawaii, a 1998 report showed that almost 50 percent of 12th-grade students routinely drank alcohol.
The recent survey showed that minors are more likely to go to liquor and drug stores when attempting to buy alcohol. Authorities must increase enforcement at these establishments if curbs on underage drinking are to be successful. Those who operate such businesses should increase their scrutiny of customers and all stores that sell liquor should take the law more seriously.
Parents have a responsibility as well. They should monitor their teenagers' behavior and educate them about the dangers of drinking. If alcoho is kept in the household, adults should take careful inventory of quantities. There are many sources of liquor for minors; the kitchen refrigerator shouldn't be one of them.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, President
John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
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