6.9.22 – Williamson Home Page
Police, Fire Departments look to avoid false alarm dispatches
The city of Spring Hill has entered into an agreement with a private company and established new policies to mitigate the risks posed to emergency responders by false alarm dispatches.
A newly approved ordinance has revised an entire chapter of municipal code to address the city’s assessment that the “vast majority of alarms” to which the Police and Fire Departments respond are false alarms due to faulty, poorly installed or improperly used alarm systems. These dispatches expose first responders to the general dangers of dispatching unnecessarily, and they also waste department resources.
The code revision establishes fines applied to alarm permit holders in the case of certain false alarms and also sets conditions for when certain predictably false alarms can be abandoned. It establishes different fees for which permit holders will be held responsible. Fees related to alarm permits will be split between the city and PMAM with the former receiving 70 percent and PMAM receiving 30 percent. The ordinance is especially applicable to publicly accessible buildings and commercial properties — but also residences — that hold registered alarm systems.
The city entered into an alarm program administration agreement with Dallas-based PMAM Corporation who will install and operate software-as-a-service intended to filter certain false alarms and even handle the collection services for the aforementioned fees and fines. The company will oversee alarm permit registrations and false alarm billings.
PMAM will oversee the maintenance of databases for alarm permits, their holders, which holders have due balances, non-permitted properties with outstanding charges and addresses verified or being verified. The company will also train city employees in the relevant roles, including police, on how to utilize the new SaaS.
Police Chief Don Brite presented the proposal to the city as a means to better allocate emergency responders’ time and resources. The city of Ontario, Ca. similarly adopted an agreement with PMAM early last year for the same reasons.
Established in 2001, PMAM is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in the information technology space that provides its SaaS for law enforcement, sales, human resources and healthcare companies, among others. It has four offices in the U.S. and one in India.