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Suffolk County officials are urging all residential homeowners and commercial establishments to register their burglar alarms with the county or face hefty fines — even for first-time false alarms.
Registering an alarm costs $100 for businesses and $50 for homeowners.
The new Suffolk County law went into effect last month and comes in response to the 97,000 false alarms police officers responded to in 2015, which amounted to some 32,000 in wasted patrol hours, officials said.
Registered alarm owners will get two free passes for false alarms per year, after which the fees will be $100 for each residential false alarm and $250 for each false alarm at a non-residential building, including nonprofit organizations such as churches.
Non-registered alarm owners will have to pay fees for any false alarm.
A false alarm is defined in the legislation, which appears below, as an alarm signal that results in a police response for something other than an unlawful act or emergency at the home or business/organization.
The permits have to be renewed annually, and the fee for renewing a permit is 50 percent less than the initial registration fees.
The law was passed in November and went into effect June 1.
REGISTRATION
Online by clicking the ‘alarm management’ button at SuffolkPD.org.
In person at SCPD headquarters 30 Yaphank Avenue between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays.
By mail by picking up an application at your local precinct or by downloading the permit form at SuffolkPD.org. Mail the completed form and fee to the AMPS Office at 30 Yaphank Ave, Yaphank, NY 11980
