City ups the ante on false burglar alarms

The Thousand Oaks City Council has approved an increase in fines for false alarms requiring police response, effective Sun., July 1.

After conducting a study which concluded that 99.6 percent of alarm calls were false alarms, defined as any alarm caused by human error or equipment problems with no evidence of a crime being committed, the city decided to raise fines to encourage alarm subscribers to be more proactive in managing their alarm systems.

Two false alarm incidents each calendar year are allowed with no repercussions. After that, fines will be charged in increasing amounts per incident: $100 for the third, $200 for the fourth and $500 for each false alarm incident after the fourth.

Prior to July 1 the fines have been $65 for the third incident, $130 for the fourth and $180 for the fifth and subsequent incidents.

To prevent false alarms, all people using the system should be taught how to cancel a false activation, doors and windows should be secured and locked before arming the system and regular maintenance should be performed.

More information is available at www.faraonline.org, on the Ventura County Security Association's website, www.thevcsa.org, or by calling the Thousand Oaks Police Department alarm coordinator at (805) 449-2760.