unreasonable business license requirement

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona.
Tucson is requiring a city alarm license. One of the requirements is to agree to open all customer records at any time for any reason to any person who identifies himself as an agent or officer of the police department. This does not seem fair to my customers. There may be notes or recordings that may seem suspicious. Also, I have been in business here for 20 years.

Yes, the paragraph to allow them to access the alarm records is as described in the comments below.

To clarify the information that the police could access: contact information and names of authorized persons, who was at a certain location at a certain time, contract details, any audio recordings of phone conversations, dispatcher notes of incidents, any special instructions, patterns of when alarm is armed and disarmed and by who. This is a whole data base of information they could sift through. I don't mind giving them this information if they can get a judge to authorize it.

I am concerned that they could use this power for harassment of alarm companies.

jalarm said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona.
Tucson is requiring a city alarm license. One of the requirements is to agree to open all customer records at any time for any reason to any person who identifies himself as an agent or officer of the police department. This does not seem fair to my customers. There may be notes or recordings that may seem suspicious. Also, I have been in business here for 20 years. Should I challenge this?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

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Sure seems like an attempt to circumvent the 4th amendment to me. You should a local attorney familiar with these issues in AZ and Tucson.

Part of the Patriot act includes a clause where the government can examine library records at any time. The local libraries responded by deleting records two weeks after the book was returned.

You could do something similar.

I wonder if they require law offices to get an alarm license, and similarly open their records for inspection.

jalarm said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona.
Tucson is requiring a city alarm license. One of the requirements is to agree to open all customer records at any time for any reason to any person who identifies himself as an agent or officer of the police department. This does not seem fair to my customers. There may be notes or recordings that may seem suspicious. Also, I have been in business here for 20 years. Should I challenge this?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

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So, you are stating that your records would be open for police inspection, without a warrant, at any time? I certainly would challenge something like that. In many industries (including mine) that would violate federal law.

Might be helpful if OP provides the wording of that local requirement.

Proserpina said:

Might be helpful if OP provides the wording of that local requirement.

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From what I've found, this requirement applies to alarm installers.

http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/files/police/Alarm_Business_Application.pdf

28. By signing this application below, you are expressly agreeing that any and all records of this alarm business, whether
written or recorded, electronically or otherwise, or in any other form, relating to information required to be supplied to the
Tucson Police Department in case of an alarm, shall be immediately made available at any time upon request for inspection
by agents of the Tucson Police Department.

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Here is what I think he is talking about:

28. By signing this application below, you are expressly agreeing that any and all records of this alarm business, whether
written or recorded, electronically or otherwise, or in any other form, relating to information required to be supplied to the
Tucson Police Department in case of an alarm, shall be immediately made available at any time upon request for inspection
by agents of the Tucson Police Department.

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I think that what this is saying is that any information that you would normally be required to provide IN CASE OF AN ALARM GOING OFF, to the police, must also be made available at any time for inspection by the police.

I am not sure exactly how I feel about that one. On its face, it does not seem particularly unreasonable.

That's the rub. What information, exactly, is supposed to be given to the police when an alarm goes off? If it's nothing more than say, an address, there doesn't seem to be much harm.

I suspect the issues arise when the alarm services includes some sort of active monitoring and/or options to notify the police directly. In that case, the police are likely going to want information about who is in the customer's location so that when they arrive and find 2 caucasian 30 year old males in a house supposedly containing 1 elderly black woman, they will know who to arrest.

so that when they arrive and find 2 caucasian 30 year old males in a house supposedly containing 1 elderly black woman, they will know who to arrest.

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Yeah, right!

PC all the way

well, the next step from here is to find out what information is required to be provided to the cops should there be an alarm.

, relating to information required to be supplied to the
Tucson Police Department in case of an alarm,

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I am not aware of what Tucson requires but in areas in my area I know that there is nothing required to be provided. Since the alarm call is a voluntary action anyway, there is nothing that is required to be provided.

anybody read the law far enough to know what the Tucson police require to be provided to them upon an alarm call?