Industry Appeals Ruling Upholding Alarm Ordinance in Sandy Springs
The plaintiffs’ petition claims alarm companies do not get a hearing before being fined, which violates their due process rights.
The original challenge to the alarm ordinance was dismissed by a lower federal court in 2018.
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Plaintiffs in litigation opposing the City of Sandy Springs’ controversial alarm ordinance have filed a petition requesting a rehearing of their appeal before a three-judge panel of the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Georgia Electronic Life Safety & Systems Association (GELSSA), A-Com Security Co. and Safecom Security Solutions are seeking a rehearing before the full court that upheld the dismissal of their lawsuit concerning the 2017 ordinance that fines alarm companies for false alarms generated by end users.
The original challenge to the law was dismissed by a lower federal court in 2018.
The plaintiffs’ petition filed with the Eleventh Circuit claims the city imposes fines up to $500 on alarm companies despite there being no “responsible relation” between the alarm companies and the users who trigger the false alarms.
A press release issued by the Security Industry Alarm Association (SIAC) contends the city does not provide alarm companies a meaningful hearing before imposing a fine. Instead, the city provides an appeals process after a fine has been levied, which SIAC maintains is “rife with procedural deficiencies.”
The petition argues that for these reasons the ordinance violates plaintiffs’ due process rights under federal and state law, according to SIAC.
“This case raises an issue that potentially could impact numerous businesses,” states SIAC Executive Director Stan Martin. “The ruling makes it far too easy for a government entity to hold a business responsible for the actions of its customers even if the business does not have a responsible relationship with the customer’s conduct.”
The city’s first alarm ordinance, adopted in 2012, fined alarm users to reduce the number of false alarm calls into the 911 Center. The city said false alarm calls tied up valuable public safety resources both in the 911 Center as well as public safety personnel required to follow up on those false calls.
False dispatch calls averaged 10,000 annually when the City Council amended the ordinance in 2017. Fines were mandated on alarm companies instead of alarm system owners since the alarm company places the call to 911 requesting public safety dispatch.
Sandy Springs has a population of approximately 107,000 and is located 16 miles north of Atlanta. The latest iteration of city’s controversial alarm verification ordinance went into effect in June 2019. Since then, alarm companies have been required to verify home and business intrusion alarms by using audio, video or in-person verification before notifying 911.
Police are not responding to any incidents without verification of a crime, and alarm companies are paying steep fines for false alarms triggered within the city limits.
“Extreme proposals such as passing customer fines to the alarm companies for payment will be vigorously opposed. We do support stopping response or requiring verification for law enforcement dispatch when applied only to chronic abusers,” Martin says. “More than 1,000 communities nationwide are currently using the principles of the national model ordinance and that number continues to grow steadily each year.”
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About the Author
Rodney Bosch, Senior Editor
Although Bosch’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. Prior to joining SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION in 2006, he spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times, where he performed a wide assortment of editorial responsibilities, including feature and metro department assignments as well as content producing for latimes.com. Bosch is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in Mass Communication & Journalism. In 2007, he successfully completed the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association’s National Training School coursework to become a Certified Level I Alarm Technician.
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