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Re: Owning a Siren?

Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:32 pm
by CDV777-1
was told that they would be arrested for doing so.
Arrested for what exactly? I wonder what the charge would be?
I could see someone being arrested if they were screwing around running a siren during a storm (with no warnings issued) just to mess with people.

Chase Frost (some of you old-timers here might remember him) put his Model A out on his porch and ran it during a tornado warning and they came out
and did a news story about him.

I guess I've really never considered this because I wouldn't take any of mine outside and run them (except for
putting my Model A on the front porch on New Years eve and blasting it for a second).
I called the Fire Marshal here in Allen and asked him if I could run my Model 2 and Model 5s to check them.
That was back when I got all the siren parts so I had to run them after I assembled the model 5s.
I told him I would only run them in the garage with the door closed around mid day and only on days with no clouds.
He said that was fine. He knows I have sirens and I also told him that he didn't have to worry about me ever running
the Thunderbolt with the blower and he just laughed. I have only run my stuff like I described above.
I doubt if anyone around me has ever even heard them. They are all usually gone during the day anyway.

Re: Owning a Siren?

Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:47 pm
by Jim Z
Arrested for what exactly? I wonder what the charge would be?
if someone has a bug up their bum, I suppose they could hit you with something like disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct. Though I think in most locations that would be at worst a civil infraction (ticket) and not something that'd get you tossed in the clink unless you kept doing it.

most laws I've seen on illegal use of a warning device deal with having a siren on your vehicle or tampering with a city/county-owned siren.

Re: Owning a Siren?

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:55 am
by 2t22 austin
coastalsyrolover wrote:Yea I own a thunderbolt and will occasionally growl it with no blower and nobody complained.
ati suck I got a 2t22 a siren
CDV777-1 wrote:
was told that they would be arrested for doing so.
Arrested for what exactly? I wonder what the charge would be?
I could see someone being arrested if they were screwing around running a siren during a storm (with no warnings issued) just to mess with people.

Chase Frost (some of you old-timers here might remember him) put his Model A out on his porch and ran it during a tornado warning and they came out
and did a news story about him.

I guess I've really never considered this because I wouldn't take any of mine outside and run them (except for
putting my Model A on the front porch on New Years eve and blasting it for a second).
I called the Fire Marshal here in Allen and asked him if I could run my Model 2 and Model 5s to check them.
That was back when I got all the siren parts so I had to run them after I assembled the model 5s.
I told him I would only run them in the garage with the door closed around mid day and only on days with no clouds.
He said that was fine. He knows I have sirens and I also told him that he didn't have to worry about me ever running
the Thunderbolt with the blower and he just laughed. I have only run my stuff like I described above.
I doubt if anyone around me has ever even heard them. They are all usually gone during the day anyway.

Re: Owning a Siren?

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:47 am
by Taterworks
Jim Z wrote:
Arrested for what exactly? I wonder what the charge would be?
if someone has a bug up their bum, I suppose they could hit you with something like disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct. Though I think in most locations that would be at worst a civil infraction (ticket) and not something that'd get you tossed in the clink unless you kept doing it.

most laws I've seen on illegal use of a warning device deal with having a siren on your vehicle or tampering with a city/county-owned siren.
The reality of the modern American police state is that if some jerk with a uniform decides they don't like the idea of you setting off your siren, or doing just about anything else, there's some charge they can get you with. And in Chicago the police just revel in that kind of nazism. If you live in Chicago, do yourself a favor, find another job somewhere else, and get the F out. That whole place is about to crumble into Lake Michigan out of its own corruption and the rising public anger. Thankfully, they can't (yet) make you stay there against your will.

Re: Owning a Siren?

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:12 am
by Antiwhoknows
I talked with my county's EMA director a couple years ago about running my Model 2 during tests and tornado warnings and got a huge lecture about how I would be disturbing the peace and putting peoples' lives at risk because "it could confuse them". I'm not sure what peace there is during a siren test or tornado warnings. I was also told that it would be violating state law of obstructing government operations. After a little research on that law, I've concluded that it only involves forcibly preventing a government operation from occurring, which would mean I would have to somehow make the test not occur by holding the dispatcher back from hitting the button, cutting the power to the siren, etc.

I'd just check with your local and state laws to see what is true. EMA directors and police tend to think they have more power than they really do and try to bend the rules, or straight up don't know they are talking about and act like jerks and use threats to scare people.

Regardless of what I've been told by my county's EMA director, I've been running sirens during county siren tests off and on for a little over 3 years and have not had a problem. I even run them for short blasts in the shop from time to time and no one seems to notice (like I will probably be doing with my 3T22 this weekend).

Re: Owning a Siren?

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:24 am
by Crazywarriorman
I've lived in southern Illinois for about 5 years now, and my dad and his wife have lived here their whole lives. My next door neighbor is the Chief of Police and he hasn't said a single thing about me setting anything off for warnings or new years. Southern Illinois and Chicagoland are two very different places though. With that being said your best bet is to talk to somebody from the city and see what they think about it. Chicago police are so-so but this guy said he lives in the suburbs, which are different towns with different law enforcement from the city of Chicago. You never know they may actually encourage it!

Re: Owning a Siren?

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:35 am
by coastalsyrolover
Uhhh… Yes Ati does… I don't own one though… K anyways in the city I live in we currently do not have sirens… But the coast MOSTLY does. One police serj is going to let me blast mine with theirs one time and… Well that's it… We hear it go off and boom… Pretty much the end of that story… I really don't see why anyone would have a problem with it when it comes to blasting yours off with the rest of the county...

Re: Owning a Siren?

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:05 pm
by Stormsetter4
I set mine off occasionally for a 5 second blast or whatever you want to call it. My neighbors think it is cool and I am friends with practically everybody at city hall and they all think it is really cool and they encourage it. That depends on your situation though. :wink: