Yuma, Arizona - The Yuma Police Department wants to remind everyone that the on December 1, 2016 the grace period for the False Alarm Reduction Program will be over. Starting December 1st the ordinance requires businesses and residents to pay a series of fines for false alarm calls, beginning with the third offense. Fines start at $100 or a False Alarm Awareness Class and reach up to $250.
In May of last year, the City of Yuma approved a false alarm reduction ordinance aimed at minimizing the overall number of false alarm calls requiring police response. The goal of this program is to cut down on the amount of time officers spend responding to false alarms. They Yuma Police department receives approximately 5000 alarm calls per year. Burglary, panic and robbery alarms are high priority calls and require more than one officer to be dispatched. A large majority of these calls are false alarms which results in a significant allocation of police department resources.
Administered through a contract with Public Safety Corporation’s CryWolf program, alarm registration helps reduce false alarms by ensuring alarm service providers and law enforcement have up-to-date alarm response instructions and contacts to confirm whether alarm response is necessary or appropriate. Information and tips provided to alarm registrants also help reduce the large majority of false alarms that are preventable with proper operation.
Yuma’s new False Alarm Reduction program began on September 1, 2016. This required alarm users and businesses to register their alarm systems at no charge online via https://www.crywolfservices.com/yumaaz/. A link to the registration website is also available through the city’s website at www.yumaaz.gov and can also be found under “Police Department” within the website. The website will also contain helpful tips to consumers on how to reduce a majority of false alarms that are preventable with proper operation.