False Alarms - City of Davenport Ordinance Information

What is considered a false alarm? 

A false alarm occurs when the alarm system is activated and the Davenport Police Department and/or the Davenport Fire Department responds, but there is no evidence of unauthorized entry, criminal activity (or reasonable threat of criminal activity) or any other emergency that would require the services of the Davenport Police Department or the Davenport Fire Department. This includes signals activated by accident, negligence, mechanical failure, electrical failure, signals activated intentionally in non-emergency situations and signals for which the actual cause of activation is unknown. An alarm is considered false if responding personnel follow normal operating procedures and find no evidence of an unauthorized entry, criminal activity (or reasonable threat of), or other emergency.

 

 What can I do to prevent false alarms?

  • Make sure everyone in your home or business knows how to manually operate the alarm system and what to do if the alarm is accidentally set off.

  • Before you turn on your alarm, make sure all doors and windows are closed and locked.

  • Test your alarm system at least once a month to make sure it is working properly. Call your alarm company for immediate service if you think your system is not working properly.

  • When testing your alarm, don’t forget to notify the alarm monitoring company.

  • Keep pets out of rooms with motion sensors. Also make sure these rooms are free of anything else that could activate the system.

 

False Alarm Violation Assesments

Each false alarm is a separate violation of the ordinance and shall be fined as follows within a year (consecutive 365-day period): 

 1st False Alarm = No Charge

 2nd False Alarm = No Charge

 3rd False Alarm = $50

 4th False Alarm = $100

 5th False Alarm = $200

 6th False Alarm = $300

 7th False Alarm = $400

 8th (and over) False Alarm = $500

 

False alarms cost residents (fines and personal inconvenience) and city emergency services (tax dollars and response time).

Please help us keep false alarms to a minimum in efforts to ensure that our teams are available to respond to emergency situations.