We as all colleges & universities were having the same problem with malicious
false alarms especially from the early to mid 90's. It was to the point that
30% of our 167 fire alarms in dorms were of a malicious nature. One night we
had 12 malicious alarms in one of our high rise dorms (14 floors).

So I put together a "MALICIOUS FALSE ALARM FACT SHEET" that I used and
reviewed during my trainings. The RA's & RD's also kept posting them year
round in the dorms. Some RA's even posted them by each pullstation in their
dorms.

This sheet basically covered the following information on malicious false
alarms:
1. Criminal Charges when caught
2. Dangers involved with malicious false alarms
   a) # of personnel & vehicles responding including the fire department
   b) dangers to pedestrians
   c) other people who may have an actually emergency & need the services tied
      up on a malicious alarm.
   d) *And yes the big and important danger- When a building becomes plagued
with malicious false alarms, the occupants tend to ignore the alarms and not
take them seriously or not exit the building at all. This could be disastrous
if there was an actual fire! (How true this one has become lately)

I also turned the tables on the students in a way. I explained to them that
they are the victims of malicious false alarms, not Campus Safety. I advise
them to report any information that they witness or hear about a malicious
fire alarm.

SInce the inception of this little campaign, we have not only gotten the
"student victims" on our side, we have had numerous arrests/judicial hearings
for the responsible party(s) and have reduced our yearly malicious totals from
48-52 to 10-15 for the past 4 years. I was rather proud of this accomplishment
since I took it on by myself.

Hope this helps!! I do have copies of the sheet if anyone is interested in
seeing one.

Doug Gordner, Life Safety Inspector
Ithaca College Campus Safety
Life Safety Division
Ithaca, New York 14850

(607)-274-1846
(607)-274-1868 (fax)