McHenry County has passed an ordinance to regulate alarms and establish a violation for repeated false alarms within the County.
Among the provisions contained within the ordinance is the requirement to notify the Sheriff's Office of your system. Failure to notify the Sheriff's Office of your alarm is a violation of the ordinance.
Also among the provisions is a system whereby repeated false alarms will subject the owner to potential charges of violating the ordinance. I strongly urge you to carefully review the ordinance so that you will be aware of the requirements set forth.
While I view alarms as a valuable tool in the prevention of crime and preservation of the health and safety of the citizens of McHenry County, false alarms constitute a danger to police and fire first responders and to the public traveling the highways of the County during those responses. False alarms are a drain on police and fire resources which are often diverted from other tasks to respond to this type of call for service.
It is hoped that through compliance with this ordinance, the number of false alarms will be reduced, thereby bringing an increased level of safety to the citizens of the County not only through the reduction in responses by emergency units to these calls, but also through the allocation of these resources to other crime prevention and reduction activities.