Title 10 Regulation of Activities
Chapter 10.48 False Alarms
Section 10.48.240 Appeals
Cost recovery fees may be appealed to the alarm appeals officer, as follows:
The appeal process is initiated by the alarm user sending a letter to the alarm appeals officer requesting ((an appeal conference)) that the cost recovery fee be waived, and specifying the reasons for the appeal and submitting the scheduled appeal fee.
This letter and appeal fee must be received by the alarm appeals officer within thirty working days after mailing of the initial invoice to the alarm owner.
Service fees may be appealed only on the grounds that the incident cited as the basis for the service fee was, in fact, not a false alarm response.
The alarm user must, in his letter requesting an appeal, describe detailed, credible evidence in his possession that supports the contention that the involved incident was a valid alarm, as described in SMC 10.48.180(D)
The alarm appeals officer may reject requests for appeals that are not supported by detailed, credible evidence of criminal activity or for one of the listed reasons in the City of Spokane false alarm appeal guideline form by the appellant.
Notice of rejection of a request for this initial appeal shall be sent to the appellant in writing within ten working days following receipt of the appeal request by the alarm appeals officer.
Whenever the first appeal is denied, the alarm user may then file a second written appeal requesting an in-person hearing.
This request must be received within thirty days from the mailing of the denial of the first level of appeal.
All hearings shall be heard by an appeals officer appointed by the chief of police.
The alarm administrator shall serve as the City’s representative in these hearings.
The filing of a request for an appeal conference with an alarm appeals officer sets aside any pending service fee or related service suspension/revocation until the alarm appeals officer either rejects the appeal request, as described in subsection (A) of this section, or renders a final decision.
The alarm appeals officer, on receipt of a request for a hearing, shall conduct an appeal conference in Spokane within thirty working days after receiving the appeal request. The alarm administrator may also contact the appellant and offer a resolution or modification of the cost recovery fees prior to the scheduled hearing.
At the conference, the alarm administrator shall present evidence of the City’s behalf supporting the case that the applicable cost recovery fees are based on police response to an actual false alarm. The alarm appeals officer shall consider this evidence and any information presented by any interested person(s).
Because false alarm responses are based on the professional judgment of the responding officer using the facts known to the officer at the time of the incident, the burden of proof in appeals is on the appellant.
The appellant must establish with credible evidence that facts not considered by the officer existed at the time of the incident lead to the reasonable conclusion that the incident involved was a valid alarm, as described in SMC 10.48.180(D)
The alarm appeals officer shall make his decision based on the presence of such facts and conclusions.
The alarm appeals officer shall render a decision and notify the appellant and the alarm administrator thereof in writing within twenty working days after the appeal conference is held. The alarm appeals officer may:
affirm,
waive,
cancel, or
modify
the penalty fees or actions that are the subject of the appeal.
If the alarm appeals officer affirms or modifies the amount of a service fee due, that amount becomes immediately due and payable.
Appeal decisions are reviewed and approved by the chief of police prior to becoming official. The official decision of the alarm appeals officer is final, and no further appeals or remedies are available.
Date Passed: Monday, April 28, 2008
Effective Date: Saturday, May 31, 2008
ORD C34223 Section 16
