Beginning April 1, 2009, fees will be assessed for all false burglar or intrusion alarms that are responded to by the Amherst Police Department. The False Alarm By-law, which was approved by Town Meeting in April, 2008, and the Attorney General’s Office this past fall, had a delayed implementation to afford citizens ample time to work with their alarm vendors to repair or maintain malfunctioning systems. In 2008, there were 728 alarm calls - all of which were false but still required 1,559 police responses. Of those false alarms, many locations were responded to numerous times throughout the year. The Amherst Police Department hopes that this by-law will be an effective tool to encourage those repeat offenders to repair their faulty systems. The False Alarm Fee By-law addresses burglar or intrusion alarms only and does not include fire alarms or medical alert systems.
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Since January 1, 2009, Amherst Officers that responded to false alarms have left a written warning notice at the address advising the occupants of the by-law violation and the penalties for repeat offenses in a 12-month period. As the fee assessments begin on April 1, 2009, warning notices issued between January 1st and March 31st will not be considered a penalty. As the by-law states, warnings will be issued for the first three responses within a 12-month period to a location, but the 4th and all subsequent responses during that 12-month period will result in a by-law violation fine being mailed to the resident.
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Questions regarding the by-law can be referred to the Amherst Police Department at 413-259-3000 or police@amherstma.gov. For frequently asked questions please visit our website, http://www.amherstpd.org/. The bylaw in its entirety is below.
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Amherst, Massachusetts General Bylaws
Any residence, school, municipal building or place of business which has an alarm system connected directly to the Police Department or connected indirectly to said Department through a private alarm company (each of which will be hereinafter referred to as a “monitored system”), shall be charged a fine for all responses by the Department to such buildings when the response is caused by: (1) the activation of the monitored system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or negligence of the user of an alarm system or his employees or agents; or (2) the activation of the monitored system requesting, requiring or resulting in a response on the part of the Police Department when, in fact, there has been no unauthorized intrusion, robbery or burglary, or attempted threat. For the purposes of this bylaw, activation of a monitored system for the purposes of testing with prior approval by the Police Department, or by an act of God, including, but not limited to, power outages, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and similar weather or atmospheric disturbances shall not be deemed to be a false alarm. A fine for violation of this bylaw may be assessed against the owner or tenant of the residence or place of business. Penalties for violation of this bylaw shall be as follows - successive responses to be counted within any twelve month period: first three responses - Warning, fourth response - $50.00, fifth response - $75.00, sixth response - $100.00, seventh response - $150.00, eighth and subsequent responses - $200.00. This section may be enforced pursuant to the noncriminal disposition method as contained in M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 21D. Enforcing persons shall be police officers.
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Amherst, Massachusetts General Bylaws
Any residence, school, municipal building or place of business which has an alarm system connected directly to the Police Department or connected indirectly to said Department through a private alarm company (each of which will be hereinafter referred to as a “monitored system”), shall be charged a fine for all responses by the Department to such buildings when the response is caused by: (1) the activation of the monitored system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or negligence of the user of an alarm system or his employees or agents; or (2) the activation of the monitored system requesting, requiring or resulting in a response on the part of the Police Department when, in fact, there has been no unauthorized intrusion, robbery or burglary, or attempted threat. For the purposes of this bylaw, activation of a monitored system for the purposes of testing with prior approval by the Police Department, or by an act of God, including, but not limited to, power outages, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and similar weather or atmospheric disturbances shall not be deemed to be a false alarm. A fine for violation of this bylaw may be assessed against the owner or tenant of the residence or place of business. Penalties for violation of this bylaw shall be as follows - successive responses to be counted within any twelve month period: first three responses - Warning, fourth response - $50.00, fifth response - $75.00, sixth response - $100.00, seventh response - $150.00, eighth and subsequent responses - $200.00. This section may be enforced pursuant to the noncriminal disposition method as contained in M.G.L. Chapter 40, Section 21D. Enforcing persons shall be police officers.
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