East Brunswick Will Fine Residents For False Burglary Alarms

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — East Brunswick is now requiring residents register their home security alarm systems, and will begin fining homes that accidentally set off the alarm more than twice a year.

It's a dramatic announcement, made Thursday, but it's not entirely unheard of: Towns like Montclair, in Essex County, and Springfield, in Union County, both require residents to register their home security alarms, and also fine them for repeated false calls.

East Brunswick contracted CryWolf, a Maryland-based alarm monitoring service developed by AOT Public Safety Corporation. Starting today, April 12, East Brunswick residents and businesses are now required to register their alarm systems with CryWolf's online adminstration site.

There is a one-time $10 fee to register an alarm (the town of Montclair charges $50, by comparison). All alarms must be registered by May 31, 2018. The East Brunswick Police Department will then begin tracking the number of false alarms from any one property. Both businesses and residents will receive one free false alarm call per year.

But if police have to respond to two or more false alarms per year, the registered alarm user will face a series of graduated fines, ranging from $25 to $200 for each violation.

Excessive repeated false alarms (six or more in a year) may result in suspension of response, which means the East Brunswick Police Department will no longer respond to alarm calls at that location. Proof will then have to be provided to the police that the alarm has been fixed and tested.

What if you choose not to register your home security system? Accounts that are unregistered will be assessed an additional $50 fee per day that a false alarm occurs.

It's part of an effort to cut down on the number of false burglary alarms East Brunswick police say they forced to respond to every day.

"The East Brunswick Police Department loses over 2,000 hours of officer time to false alarms each year," the department announced Thursday.

In fact, false alarms account for approximately 98% of all alarm calls.

The East Brunswick Township Committee passed an alarm ordinance that allows them to create the registry and fine residents, police said.

East Brunswick residents and businesses can visit EBPD.net to register their alarm system. Alarm registration is also required every two years in Princeton, NJ 101.5 reported.

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