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TO: <br />FROM: <br />BY: <br />City of Tukwila <br />Allan Ekberg, Mayor <br />INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM <br />Community Services & Safety Committee <br />Eric Dreyer, Chief of Police <br />Jake Berry, Public Safety Finance Manager <br />CC: Mayor Ekberg <br />DATE: November 21st 2022 <br />SUBJECT: Tukwila Public Safety Partners with False Alarm Administrator <br />ISSUE <br />The Tukwila Police Department has partnered with Central Square Technologies to administer <br />their False Alarm Reduction Program in an effort to reduce false alarm responses and to better <br />align limited staff time with other Public Safety priorities. <br />BACKGROUND <br />Tukwila police officers were dispatched to 1,522 false alarms in 2019 and are on track for 1,749 <br />by the end of 2022. This represents a nearly 15% increase, despite the false alarm fee <br />structure being revamped effective January 1St 2020 in an effort to curtail these numbers. <br />This increase in false alarms not only takes Officers away from important duties, but the <br />administration of the false alarm program also takes considerable time for non-commissioned <br />Police and Finance Department staff. Each month, staff must take alarm call data from Valley <br />Communications and then isolate which of the alarms were found to be false. The remaining <br />data is then compared to data from prior months to determine which incidents are billable. <br />Invoices created by Finance staff are then mailed to the alarm locations and, depending on time <br />available, invoices that have not been paid are researched and proper follow-up is taken. The <br />administration of this program is exceedingly manual and is being done by existing staff with <br />several other responsibilities. <br />The Tukwila Police Department set out several months ago to research viable options to <br />streamline the process and to capitalize on efficiencies. Through our own research and based <br />on recommendations from neighboring jurisdictions, the Police Department chose to partner <br />with CentralSquare's CryWolf Services product. <br />The goal of this partnership is to reduce the number of false alarms, leverage the expertise of <br />CentralSquare in administering such a program, and to allow Police administrative staff to focus <br />on responsibilities more aligned with department priorities. <br />DISCUSSION <br />CryWolf Services is a product provided by CentralSquare Technologies, the company that <br />powers Tukwila's Financial Enterprise software as well as Public Safety's WebQuery CAD <br />product. CentralSquare administers the False Alarm programs of over 330 agencies that <br />support over 500 cities and counties throughout the United States and Canada. Within the state <br />of Washington, CentralSquare manages the false alarm programs of Renton, Auburn, Bellevue, <br />Everett, Kennewick, Olympia, and Spokane. <br />CentralSquare's goal in operating CryWolf is to reduce false alarms, increase fee and fine <br />collections, expand the use of innovative software and processes, and improve false alarm <br />45 <br />