4.25.24 – Liberty Hill TX – Community Impact – By Zacharia Washington
The department has been responding to multiple calls related to business alarm systems falsely going off.
Due to ongoing incidents of business alarm systems going off and alerting the Liberty Hill Police Department when there was no actual threat, Police Chief Royce Graeter made the decision to start handing out penalties for multiple offenses.
“It’s mostly [businesses] that we have an issue with, but we’ll have multiple false alarms, and we’ll respond across town,” Graeter said during the March 27 City Council meeting. “We have to treat them all like they’re real. [It] takes fuel, takes manpower, everything to do that. So this would give a little accountability.”
The specifics
Liberty Hill City Council unanimously voted in favor of an ordinance to provide guidelines and regulations for alarm systems and enforce penalties for multiple false alarms April 24.
Graeter said businesses would need to have five false alarms before any charges are enforced. If a business has six to seven false alarms, it would owe a $75 penalty fee, and after seven, it would owe a $100 fee.
“Take care of it and make sure [your] alarms work correctly,” Graeter said.
The ordinance requires businesses to have a permit with the city of Liberty Hill for its alarm system. Officials are aware, however, some businesses currently have permits with Williamson County.
During the April 24 meeting, Lt. Jeff Ringstaff said the department will recognize the county permit until it expires. However, at the time of renewal, the business will then need to renew with the city of Liberty Hill.
If a business is getting a new alarm system installation, it would need to automatically go through Liberty Hill, Ringstaff said.
Government Reporter Zacharia joined Community Impact in January 2022 after a year spent working at the Texas Observer. She is a government reporter covering Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander and Liberty Hill. Prior to CI, Zacharia graduated from Huston-Tillotson University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in communication; shortly after, she graduated from The University of Texas with a master’s degree in journalism and media. Zacharia has a passion for journalism, service and the community, and she’s honored to work at a place with the same values as her own.