Opinion ID: 2367244
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: burglar alarms and mr. howe's call to police dispatch

Text: ¶ 6 In the early morning hours of June 27, 2003, the lunchroom staff arrived at West High School and began preparing meals for a summer lunch program. A supervisor turned off the security alarm in the lunchroom, cafeteria, and an adjacent hallway. She left the motion-activated alarms on in the rest of the school. Shortly before 9 a.m. the still-activated alarms went off. Two staff members reported two girls had entered the school and gone up to the second level. The supervisor called Peak Alarm. She asked Peak Alarm to send police because she wanted to make sure [the girls] weren't up to some mischief and no one on the lunchroom staff was trained to deal with intruders. In an affidavit submitted in this case, the supervisor stated police never questioned her about the girls and what transpired in the school, but focused only on the information she gave to Peak Alarm. ¶ 7 Following a telephone conversation with the supervisor, a Peak Alarm employee called the Salt Lake City Police dispatch and requested police respond to a burglar alarm. The police dispatcher refused to send officers to the school and added police would only be sent after school employees called us from the school and asked us to help remove them. The Peak Alarm employee's subsequent attempts to contact the supervisor and other school officials were unsuccessful. The Peak Alarm employee apprised Mr. Howe, who was the alarm company's central station manager, of the situation. Mr. Howe then called police dispatch himself. The following conversation ensued: Mr. Howe: Hey, we have an actual burglar alarm going off at West High, and I guess my dispatcher just called up and said you guys weren't going to go on an actual burglar alarm? Police dispatch: No, we don't go on burglarwe haven't gone on burglar alarms for two years. Mr. Howe: This is an actual burglary in progress, it's been verified. Police dispatch: No, [the Peak Alarm employee] didn't say that, she said it was an alarm. Mr. Howe: ... We actually have people inside and my guard is asking for police assistance. Police dispatch: Okay, that's what I needed. . . . Police dispatch: Okay, and how many, how many? Mr. Howe: They said two or three kids. Police dispatch: Where at? Mr. Howe: Didn't get that information just the alarm's coming from the second floor, but they're running throughout the whole building. . . . Police dispatch: And where do we meet your guard at? Mr. Howe: Just in front of the school. Police dispatch: Is he in uniform or she? Mr. Howe: Yes, he is. ¶ 8 Over the course of the day, there were a number of additional conversations between Mr. Howe and dispatchers and a police officer to clarify what information had been conveyed to Peak Alarm, whether this was a panic alarm or a burglary alarm, and the status of the security guard. In these subsequent conversations, Mr. Howe readily acknowledged that he had assumed that a security guard from Peak Alarm had confirmed the unauthorized entry and that it was the guard who had requested police assistance. The most significant of these later conversations came in two interviews conducted by Salt Lake City Police Officer Shaun Wihongi. In the first interview, Officer Wihongi reported Mr. Howe claimed he was led to believe the school employees were in imminent danger and he was unhappy that police refused to go to the scene after the initial call for police assistance. When asked why he made the specific statements about the security guard, Mr. Howe told Officer Wihongi, [W]hatever it takes, I thought this was a panic alarm. In the second interviewwhich Officer Wihongi recordedMr. Howe reiterated that he believed school employees were in danger because they had unauthorized people within the building that should not have been in there.... [S]omeone's life could potentially be in danger. Mr. Howe also stated, If we're even charged for a false alarm, I don't care. I was justhey, charge us if you have to, we'll be glad to pay it.