False emergency alarms are a crime

(1) A person commits the offense of rendering a false alarm if the person knowingly causes a false alarm of fire or other emergency to be transmitted to or within an official or volunteer fire department, any other government agency, or any public utility that deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property. (2) Rendering a false alarm is a misdemeanor. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; gen ch 1993] COMMENTARY ON §710-1014 The rendering of a false fire alarm is almost universally made criminal. The Code generalizes the principle to cover all emergency alarms and all governmental emergency organizations (the police would be included while responding to an alarm of this character), public utilities that deal with emergencies, and, in the case of fire departments, volunteer organizations. The justification for the provision is the prevention of the "waste of government resources and the likelihood that the actor will cause personnel or equipment to be unavailable to deal with real emergencies."[1] __________ §710-1014 Commentary: 1. M.P.C., Tentative Draft No. 6, comments at 144 (1957).