12.5.23 – Snowmass Sun
Homeowners in Snowmass Village with security systems that are designed to call the local police department must apply for a new permit or face a $250 fine each time the police are called to their home.
The Snowmass Village Town Council approved updates to the town’s alarm ordinance after Snowmass Police Chief Brian Olson raised concerns about the police department responding to false burglar alarms at homes in the village. Olson proposed changes that would require homeowners who use monitored security systems to provide information such as security details or other measures in place that may eliminate the need for local law enforcement.
“A lot of wealthy people these days travel with security details, and we’d really like to know if they’re out and if they have their own security detail, we’d like to know that before we respond to an alarm,” Olson said during a Monday night Town Council meeting.
The permits will cost $50 annually and require the homeowner to provide their name, contact information, and the property manager’s contact information. It will allow the police department to contact the homeowner and property manager while responding to the alarm to determine if they are responding to an actual threat.
Fines for responding to false alarms will also increase to $100 per call, up from $50. The first three false alarms do not require homeowners to pay a fee. But homeowners that do not apply for an online permit will be charged $250 for each false alarm that police respond to.
“My counterparts throughout the valley, alarms are not being responded to anymore, especially if they don’t have a permit they just don’t go” Olson said. “I’m not there yet, I think it’s great customer service and it also gets us in little nooks and crannies of the neighborhoods where we might not have patrolled for a number of days.”
In his 36 years as a police officer, Olson said he has never responded to an monitored alarm call that was an actual burglary. Many of the burglaries that have occurred in Snowmass were a result of broken or disarmed alarms, he said.
Alarms that do not call the police department will not require a permit. The online permit licensing system for alarms will be available in 2024 and homeowners can pay fees and add contact information through the portal system.