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MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE <br /> May 5, 2021 <br /> Virtual Meeting <br /> Present: Councilmembers Neff(Chair), Bullock, Litten <br /> Also Present: Fire Chief Dunphy, Police Chief Kaucheck, Mayor Meghan George, <br /> Councilmembers Rader, Litten & Shachner, Chief of Staff John Storey, Planning Director <br /> Leininger, Human Services Director Gelsomino, Clerk Back taking minutes. <br /> Call to Order: 6:03 p.m. <br /> Approval of the minutes of the April 19, 2021 Public Safety Committee. <br /> A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the April 19, 2021 Public Safety <br /> Committee meeting. A roll call vote was conducted as follows: <br /> Yeas: Neff, Bullock, Litten <br /> Nays: none <br /> Motion adopted. Minutes approved. <br /> ORDINANCE 16-2021 - AN ORDINANCE to take effect immediately provided it <br /> receives the affirmative vote of at least two thirds of the members of Council, or otherwise <br /> to take effect and be in force at the earliest period allowed by law, amending Section <br /> 510.01(a)Declaration of Nuisance, of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Lakewood to <br /> include false fire alarms in the definition of nuisance offenses. <br /> Fire Chief Dunphy explained that he requested this change in the Code due to the large amount <br /> of false fire alarms to which the Fire Department has been responding. Section 510.01 was <br /> amended in 2016 to include false police alarms as part of a LEAN green belt project. It was <br /> determined at that time that false fire alarms were not as much of a problem and did not need to <br /> be included in the ordinance. Chief Dunphy advocated for the change now, stating that it will <br /> empower the Fire Department to follow up on multiple false alarms from the same location and <br /> to be consistent with the Police Department protocols. <br /> Law Director Corrigan remarked that repeat false alarms have become a problem and that the <br /> City has been expending significant expense, time, and resources responding to them. The <br /> existing ordinance does not allow false fire alarms to be cited. <br /> In response to a question from a committee member, Director Corrigan clarified that this change <br /> to the ordinance will not impact existing protections for victims of domestic violence. He further <br /> explained that all cases and calls are reviewed by the Law Department before a nuisance <br /> declaration is made and that anything involving welfare checks or domestic violence is excluded. <br /> 1 <br />