SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (July 20, 2020) – The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the City of Sandy Springs alarm ordinance. Judges R. Lanier Anderson III, Stanley Marcus, and Senior Judge Barbara J. Rothstein found that the City’s alarm ordinance is “rationally related to the City’s strong interests in reducing the number of false alarms that heavily burden its police and fire department and wastes public resources.”
Trade association, Georgia Electronic Life Safety & System Association, Inc. (GELSSA), along with Safecom Security Solutions, Inc., and A-Com Security Company, LLLP sued the City of Sandy Springs. The lawsuit challenged the City’s false alarm ordinance, claiming it had no legitimate governmental interest, but was implemented only to generate revenue. In its ruling, the Eleventh Circuit Court ruled that the Ordinance is an economic regulation that “doesn’t burden any suspect classification or fundamental right.” The Court also upheld the City’s appeal process for false alarms, citing that the alarm industry failed to prove harm because the companies never attempted an appeal.
“False alarms have, for decades, placed a strain on public safety resources. We are pleased that the Appellate Court recognized our efforts to provide a fair and reasonable solution to curb this waste on public safety efforts,” said Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul.
The City of Sandy Springs adopted its first alarm ordinance in 2012. The Ordinance fined alarm users in an attempt to reduce the large number of false alarm calls into the 911 Center. False alarm calls tied up valuable public safety resources both in the 911 Center as well as Public Safety personnel required to follow up on those false calls. In 2017, with false alarms still averaging 10,000 per year, the City Council revised the Ordinance, placing fines on the alarm companies, since the alarm company places the call to 911 requesting public safety dispatch. The alarm industry sued the City in March 2018. In December 2018, the United States District Court found substantive due process and legitimate governmental reasons for the Ordinance and a rational basis for the City to believe the law furthers a legitimate purpose.
The Sandy Springs City Council approved additional changes to its Ordinance in June 2018, requiring alarm companies to provide true, confirmed verification through audio, video, or in-person confirmation on intrusion (burglar) alarm activations before calling 911. The new requirements took effect in June 2019. Since True Verification was implemented, the 911 Center has received only 1,645 intrusion, panic or duress calls from alarm companies, with more than 99 percent of those calls remaining false alarms.
For more information about the City of Sandy Springs, please visit us online at www.sandyspringsga.gov, or call the Citizen Response Center at 770-730-5600. Follow breaking news and traffic alerts on Twitter and community news on Facebook, both @SandySpringsGA.
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The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals judges found that the City’s alarm ordinance is “rationally related to the City’s strong interests in reducing the number of false alarms that heavily burden its police and fire department and wastes public resources.”
