10/21/1992 - 09 AM
FALSE ALARM APPEAL TO THE CITY MANAGER BY FRANK QUESADA
October 21, 1992 - 9:00 a.m.
Present: Betty Deptula, Assistant City Manager
Officer Charles Dunn, C.W.P.D.
Frank Quesada, Appellant
Dottie Reehling, Staff Assistant II, Recorder
The Assistant City Manager, as the City Manager's designee, set this hearing and it
was called to order at 9:05 a.m. She explained the procedure to Mr. Quesada and then made
a statement of the appeal.
Mr. Quesada proceeded to present his case by enumerating the many times that the
alarm has sounded both as a result of break-ins and also as a result of employee error. The
point of entry seems to be either the back door or a back screened window. He stated that on
three different occasions he has found the window screen had been removed and deposited in
the outside trash container. He stated that both at his office and at his home he has replaced
the more sophisticated (motion, heat sensor, etc.) alarm systems with a simple magnetic
perimeter alarm; the reason for this being, the sensitive alarm systems were being set off by
lightening, wind, and other ungovernable factors. He is appealing this false alarm charge
because at a later date he found the discarded screen in the trash, the implication being that
there had been a robbery attempt.
Officer Charles Dunn, representing the Clearwater Police Department , described the
circumstances leading to Citation #01810, Notice of False Alarm and Notice of Service
Charge. He stated that he had received a telephone call from a secretary of the firm in
response to the citation, stating that she believed the alarm to be a true alarm solely because
of the time of day it sounded. She stated that none of the attorneys or employees would have
been trying to enter the premises at 5:00 a.m. Upon being questioned, she offered no other
explanation other than the hour of the day.
Officer Dunn explained that since neither a report of the trashed screen was made to
him personally or to the police department in the form of an attempted burglary report, he had
no other choice than to uphold the false alarm citation.
The Assistant City Manager stated that she would let Mr. Quesada know the decision
by mail in the specified period of time.
The meeting adjourned 9:28 a.m.
MINFA10A.92 October 21, 1992