New Alarm Rules Frustrate Cathedral City Residents, Business Owners
A new ordinance goes into effect on Sunday for Cathedral City residents and businesses owners.
By law, they will have to buy a permit and register the alarm systems protecting their properties, but the process has been confusing and frustrating to some.
“This a recorded message from the Cathedral City Police Department regarding residential and commercial alarms,” said a robocall sent out to every resident and business in Cathedral City.
It almost lasts a minute, and because of a software glitch by Geocast, the online company hired to make the calls, some people heard the same message multiple times.
Allied Refrigeration Inc., received more than 30 of the calls, disrupting business, the manager said.
“I don’t blame them for getting mad, because my understanding is the way the system works, is once you pick up the phone, it really doesn’t let you hang up until the message is over,” said Lieutenant Chuck Robinson, of the Cathedral City Police Department.
On Sunday, a new municipal code that requires both residents and business owners with alarm systems to obtain a permit from the police department and mail out a $35 user fee goes into effect.
There are penalties as high as $200 for those who don’t sign-up.
The applications can only be mailed in, not hand-delivered, and that upset some residents who stopped by to drop one off.
“It’s ludacrous,” said Barbara Mortensen, a resident.
There is a 30-day window after the Jan. 15 for the applications to be turned in, but despite some of what Lt. Robinson called “misinformation,” there is no deadline.
The new ordinance mirrors those already in affect in Palm Springs and Indio, Calif., and is an effort to crack down on false alarms, said Robinson.
Each year, the police department response to between 4,000 and 5,000 false alarms, and it will no longer do so unless a third party verifies there is a problem, said Robinson.
“It’s pretty scary when you’re alarm company can’t rely on 911 to go into dispatch,” said Lola Rossi-Meza, a resident.
The new program will help pay volunteer reserve officers an hourly wage to continue checking on alarm calls while patrol officers continue their regular beat, said Robinson.
Rossi-Meza has had her alarm for 11 years, but understands the police department’s dilemma.
“The police have been dispatched to my house several times for the alarm going off for various reasons, and I have to appreciate it,” said Rossi-Meza.
If you still have questions about this new ordinance, please visit these websites:
www.cathedralcity.gov
www.cathedralcitypolice.com
www.cathedralcityalarm.org
