Departmental personnel shall respond to all
alarm activations as soon as possible but
shall not needlessly expend police resources in response to false alarms.

DEFINITIONS

A. Alarm system: Any single device or
assembly of equipment to signal the occurrence
of an emergency to which the police department
is expected to respond, except alarms installed
in motor vehicles or fire alarms.

B. Activation: The emission of an audible
or silent alarm or signal generated by an alarm
system, including the transmission of a message
by means of an automatic telephone dialer.

C. False alarm: Any alarm activation
communicated to an emergency service that
is not in response to an actual or threatened
emergency, except if it was 1) the result of
a power outage exceeding four hours, 2) the
result of a natural disaster, or 3) cancelled
by the user before the police were dispatched or arrived.

D. Alarm user: Any person owning or
leasing an alarm system or upon whose premises
an alarm system is maintained for protective purposes.

E. Permittee: The holder of a permit for an alarm system.

ALARM ACTIVATION REPORTING

Reporting of private security alarm activations
to the police is normally done via a monitoring
agency for silent activations or by a third party for audible activations.

Police officers alerted to the activation of an
alarm shall report the location and observations
to the Communications Division. The Communications
Division shall attempt to contact the owner or
authorized representative to respond to the alarm scene.

PATROL RESPONSE

A. At least two officers should respond to any alarm activation.

B. The responding officers shall inspect
the area and determine whether an actual or
threatened emergency existed at the time of
the system’s activation. They should not
enter a building that has an activated alarm,
except in case of an emergency or exigent
circumstances and with sufficient backup and
supervisory approval. They shall:

1. Report observations (e.g., descriptions of
vehicles in the vicinity) and/or suspicious conditions
(e.g., open doors or windows) to the Communications Division; and

2. Attempt to secure the area.

C. Criminal reports shall be submitted if
the investigation reveals the possible commission of an offense.

D. If the alarm is determined to be false,
the assigned officer shall make a miscellaneous
police report with the heading “Alarm Call.”

ALARM TRACKING AND BILLING UNIT

The Records and Identification Division shall
be responsible for the management and coordination
of the Alarm Tracking and Billing Unit.

A. At the time of the response, the Chief of
Police or his designee(s) has the right to inspect
any alarm system to which departmental personnel
have responded to determine if the system is being
used in conformity with the law.

B. A permittee may submit a written request
for a review of a false alarm determination within
ten days of the date on which the determination
was mailed or delivered. It must include the
permittee’s name and mailing address, the address
of the premises at which the alarm system is
installed, the date and time of the contested
alarm, the permit number for the alarm system,
and the basis for the belief that the alarm was not false.

1. At the written request of a permittee,
the coordinator shall review the responding officer’s determination.

2. The coordinator shall mail a written
response of the review to the permittee within
21 days of receipt of the request.

C. A violation punishable by a fine of not
more than $100 shall be imposed if the alarm user
has failed to obtain a permit (Chapter 41, Article
42, Revised Ordinances of Honolulu).

D. If after having been cited for a violation
and the alarm user fails to obtain a permit within
30 days, each subsequent activation will be deemed
a false alarm violation. The alarm user shall be
cited with a fine of $250 for each violation plus
a service charge of $50 until a permit is obtained.