16-2021 - Amend 510.01 - false fire alarms

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Placed on 1st reading & referred to Public Safety 4/19/21 Bullock, Kepple, Litten, Neff, ORDINANCE NO. 16-2021 By: O'Malley, Rader, Shachner AN ORDINANCE to take effect immediately provided it receives the affirmative vote of at least two thirds of the members of Council, or otherwise to take effect and be in force at the earliest period allowed by law, amending Section 510.01(a) Declaration of Nuisance, of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Lakewood to include false fire alarms in the definition of nuisance offenses. WHEREAS, both police and fire alarm calls are responded to by multiple personnel and city vehicles; and WHEREAS, when either police or fire respond to a call and learn upon arrival and investigation that the alarm call was false, it pulls personnel and vehicles out of service for a period of time in which they are not available to respond to actual emergencies; and WHEREAS, false alarms tax our emergency responders by using valuable time and resources that could be used elsewhere during the period of time that the alarm is responded to and investigated; and WHEREAS, the criminal nuisance code was updated in November, 2016 to include false alarms that are responded to by police, at that time, it was communicated that there were very few false fire alarms and that it wasn't necessary to include them in the definition of a nuisance offense; and WHEREAS, in tracking the effectiveness of the legislation, Lakewood has realized a significant decrease in the number of false alarms that police have responded to in the years that followed which indicates that the inclusion of false police calls in the definition of the criminal nuisance has had a positive impact on the reduction of the number of false police calls; and WHEREAS, Lakewood is experiencing an uptick in the number of false fire alarm calls and the same process for addressing false police calls should have a positive impact on reducing the number of false fire alarm calls; and WHEREAS, as set forth in Section 2.12 of the Third Amended Charter of the City of Lakewood, this Council by a vote of at least two thirds of its members determines that this ordinance is an emergency measure and that it shall take effect immediately, and that it is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public property, health, and safety and to provide for the usual daily operation of municipal departments, in that the reduction of false fire alarm calls should be pursued immediately to preserve valuable public resources; now, therefore BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, OHIO: Section 1. That Section 510.01(a), Nuisance Declaration, Definition of Nuisance Activity, currently reading as follows: