Pulling a fire alarm can be seen by some as a harmless prank or an easy way to cancel class and push back an exam. It sounds like a good deal, you get some more study time or the unparalleled excitement of watching people walk out of a building. Until you get caught, and you will get caught. In recent years law enforcement and academic institutions have developed a very tough stance on false alarms, devoting time and resources to find and charge individuals with felonies and school expulsion.
But you’ve seen enough movies and know the ins and outs of committing crimes without a trace, and decide to cancel that exam coming up. So what do you need to pull this off? First and foremost a slightly darker black tactical turtleneck, Band-Aids for boo boos (Hello Kitty or go home) and a willingness to screw up your academic career.
The first problem you’ll run into is cameras. Just about all fire alarms are in the view of at least one camera and according to Palo Alto High School Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson “cameras around campus make it easy for administrators to find the perpetrator(s), so there is a high risk for pulling it” (thePalyVoice) Cameras are a useful deterrent as well “We’ve had very few pranks because we have so much CCTV, says Baker’s Director of Campus Safety Tom Pokora. They know that pulling an alarm will get them expelled from school. The cameras catch everything.” (7 Steps to Reducing False Fire Alarms)
The second problem you may run into is tamper dye on the alarm itself. Tamper dye is starting to be widely used in order to easily identify whoever pulled the alarm. “When the handle is pulled, the culprit's hand will get covered with the blue color and be immediately identifiable.” (American Time) Washing your hands will only make the problem worse “The dye activates and spreads with water, so the entire hand turns blue when washed. Tamper dye stays on the hands 2-7 days, even after multiple washings.” (Tamper Dye for Fire Alarms)
If you find a way around both of these you still need to worry about other students turning you in. As “The University of Massachusetts gives a $500 reward to students who turn in classmates who have maliciously set off an alarm.” (7 Steps to Reducing False Fire Alarms) Waking people up early on a cold morning is already asking to be turned in, throw in $500 and there will be a line of people wanting to turn you in.
If you have enough time to prepare and plan around cameras, dyes and students then you have time to study. If you need help studying then go to Starbucks and get some coffee.
Fry then goes on to save everyone in the room. The power of Caffeine!
Let’s say you didn’t listen to me and went ahead and pulled the alarm, what charges are you actually facing? “One count is false alarm or false report of a fire, according to Det. Stacy McIntyre, with the state Fire Marshal's Office. The first offense is a first-degree misdemeanor. Future charges end up as third-degree felonies. McIntyre said that, theoretically, the guilty person could also be charged with multiple acts of culpable negligence, depending on the number of students who were inside the school and could have been hurt at the time the alarm was pulled. In layman's terms, if there were 300 students in the building, then 300 counts of culpable negligence could be charged.” (Falsely Pulling Fire Alarms Can Have Serious Consequences) Although he admits the State Attorney would probably not allow them to charge 300 counts of negligence it really depends on “the person's disciplinary history, how severe the hoax was and an officer's discretion.” (Falsely Pulling Fire Alarms Can Have Serious Consequences)
The school will most likely take action as well, pulling a fire alarm as a hoax violates three different sections of the Nonacademic Misconduct for UC: False report of emergency, Public endangering and Misuse of safety equipment (Nonacademic Misconduct) Resulting in a possible expulsion.
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| Even something as simple as this goes against UC Conduct |
Although the consequences seem harsh they are there to deter from false alarms. False alarms are a waste of firefighter’s time and taxpayer dollars. We don’t need to stress out firemen more than they already are, on top of that if a real emergency occurs during a false alarm innocent people may be seriously injured or killed.
Dickerson, Brad. "Falsely Pulling Fire Alarms Can Have Serious Consequences." Falsely Pulling Fire Alarms Can Have Serious Consequences. Highlands Today, 05 Aug. 2010. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.
Gray, Robin. "7 Steps to Reducing False Fire Alarms." Mass Notification RSS. Campus Safety, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.
Zhou, Will, and Adele Bloch. "Can You Take the Heat? Think Twice before Pulling That Fire Alarm." The Paly Voice Can You Take the Heat Think Twice before Pulling That Fire Alarm Comments. ThePalyVoice, 07 Nov. 2015. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.
"Tamper Dye for Fire Alarms." American Time Integrated Solutions. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.american-time.com%2Fproducts-by-family%2Fspecialty-products%2Ffire-alarm-accessories%2Ftamper-dye-for-fire-alarms>.
"Nonacademic Misconduct." University of Cincinnati. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2015. <https://www.uc.edu/conduct/Code_of_Conduct/nonacademic-misconduct.html>.
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