So here's the deal Folks. Not only has the City/Police been charging residents a $25.00 fee for the first time residents had their alarm go off, the Salisbury Police Department has NOTHING to do with those charges.
You see, how it works is as follows. The Salisbury Police are required to write the citation that they have been to a particular location on an alarm call. The City, (not the Police) is then expected to keep tabs on how many times the Police have been called to a particular location. After the THIRD time they issue a citation for $25.00. In this case, it was the FIRST time the Police were asked to go to the location and the City just flat out sent this resident a BILL.
Now I've been told the Mayor is now on top of this matter and seems to be somewhat upset that it was even brought up. Mind you, this particular resident did all they could to get this matter resolved but as I mentioned to you earlier in my broadcast, he passed the buck back to the SPD and THEY have NOTHING to do with it at that point.
Now, it gets even better. Salisbury News has been told that the City now requires Alarm Companies trying to peddle business within the City Limits to purchase a Peddlers License. No, they're not selling Hot Dogs but the City seems to be doing everything they can to raise a buck. So if you attempt to market a product within Salisbury you may be required to carry special permits to do so. Perhaps this is why the SPD Dispatcher told this individual their system is not compatible with the SPD, I don't know.
What I do know is, the system worked, the Police went to the home and fortunately because they had an alarm system and it went off the burglars took off and the system paid off. The bigger question is, is the system legal?????
I'm sure this matter isn't going to disappear any time soon and I'm confident some of the language will be changed in the City Charter. In the mean time we'd like to know, has the City of Salisbury been charging YOU when your alarm system goes off?
The next thing I want to check into is if the City has been charging residents for ambulance services that Insurance Companies did't pay for. This could be a whole new can of worms we may be opening. John Pick and Pam Oland know the language and I'm just wondering if people are being billed for something they should NOT be charged for.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
17 comments:
I can see being charged for repeated false alarms, maybe, but being charged for what they are already paid to do? Come on.
Tecnology sucks, and I said so.
We have a commercial building in the city. When the alarms go off and there is NO problem we dont gete charged. If we happen to enter the building without turning off the alarm and it is a false alarm or there are three false alarms we are charged. I really dont see why a person should be paying a fee if the alarm went off and scared the robber away. What if the police charged each time the police are called for a disturbance or suspicious person or robbery at the local liquor store. We are paying for police protection thru our taxes and fire protecstion. Next thing we will be paying for the fire department to come to a fire..or smoke?
Next thing you know we will have to pay a fee (tax) to use a port a potty at the local fair. Payable to the city. (Mr Picks office)
This is madness. I know the person who wrote this & from what I understand she purchased the system over the Internet. I can't believe the City can give you a $25 fine when they get 3 calls that your Security Alarm has gone off! The way my Aunts worked was they cited you IF the alarm falsely went off.
From my understanding----This persons house alarm went off Because Someone Attempted To Break In-----but was gone when the police arrived. Wonder what will be thought of next? EW
Not to much new here except for the fine after one occurance. All law enforcement agencies start issuing fines after several violations. In fact the State Police have been known to write a criminal citation for false alarms. There is a state law that applies to faulty or false alarms. I have no idea that persons with alarms now have to have their alarm companies pay a peddlers fee but the companies have allways had to be registered as an alarm company with the city police department. This rule does not apply to WCSO and MSP.
The city ambulance service is called EMS in New York and is very good, with services provided by skilled Emergency Medical Technicians. They know how to handle most situations. There is a fee for the assistance.
Here's how another town handles emergency ambulance service:
Emergency ambulance service is provided by the Pasco, Washington, Fire Department.
There is a charge for emergency transport services and mileage from the pick-up location to the nearest hospital. If a patient chooses not to be transported but medical services are provided, there is a charge for those medical services.
Mileage is charged from the pick-up location to the closest appropriate hospital.
City staff will bill the medical insurance company if given that information. If there is an amount due after insurance reimbursement, the patient will be billed the difference.
Beginning in January 2007, a monthly ambulance service utility charge was added to the monthly utility statement for each utility location inside city limits. This fee is charged to each utility location in the City and helps pays for the availability of that service, should you ever need it.
This is from Pocomoke City's website:
AMBULANCE SERVICE Rates determined by Medicare
ALS Base Rate (Emergency) $525.00
ALS II Base Rate $575.00
BLS Base Rate (Emergency) $375.00
Mileage (Billed Separately) $12.00 Per Loaded Mile
* * * * *
AMBULANCE MEMBERSHIP PLAN (PER HOUSEHOLD)
City Resident $50/yr
Out of City resident in service area $70/yr.
Somerset County $80/yr.
Ruling limits suit risk for governments
BALTIMORE SUN July 28, 2000
Local governments that charge for ambulance service keep their immunity from most malpractice-type lawsuits against paramedics, the state's highest court ruled yesterday in a Baltimore case closely watched by area municipalities. In a split decision, the majority of the Maryland Court of Appeals held that rescue workers are immune from the lawsuits.
The possibility that governments might lose their immunity by making patients pay for paramedics has been a key factor in keeping many jurisdictions from charging for ambulance service.
"The city ambulance service is called EMS in New York..."
I have no idea what your point was.
Any alarm call SPD responds to, the officer(s)dispatched are duty bound to survey the location (in person) and see if anything is amiss or tampered with. If all is well and no one is on scene, or if people are on scene and have screwed up their code or entry, a "citation" is issued. This is a three layer copy, logging the location, officer(s), time, incident number and disposition. Officers usually take great pains to explain that 3 false alarms are allowed per quarter without fine. I'm not sure how your friend's system would have been incompatible, but then again there is a lot of crap sold online vouched for as legit. Me personally, if I had bought coverage online, I would have "trust but verified" that it was legit and compatible or what the hell ever, before trusting it to watch over my home and loved ones.
anonymous 9:48, As I stated in my broadcast, the dispatcher made a mistake by stating it was not compatible. Secondly, the system worked and did exactly what the ADT system would have done.
Joe:
What evidence was there of a crime in progress -- any vandalism or signs of attempted B & E.
If none, how do we know that it wasn't a false alarm, which happens.
City is doing anything to raise money EXCEPT stopping ridiculous spending!
You think the mayor cares, he wanted hand out raises to select employees while other take furloughs to pay for the raises? What a city and what is the mayor thinking????
And now Salisbury will have a dog park, so who cares if there are less fire and police personnel when we need them?
Gee,thats a novel idea-cops answering burglar alarms-isnt that part of the job?
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