Disarming fire alarms?

Is it a federal offence to disarm/disconnect a fire alarm in a public place like a hotel room?
Answers:
It is not a FEDERAL offense in a hotel room, but it is a crime.

Don't try it. Fire alarm circuits are supervised and you'll get caught. If you tampered with the smoke alarm in a hotel room, you'll get a call or visit from the management very shortly thereafter.

It IS a Federal offense to tamper with the smoke alarm in an airplane restroom.

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With the additional information maybe you should ask another question, like, "How do I handle a problem customer/guest?" or "What can I do to a hotel guest that's a real pain in the a@@ to make him never come back?"

Seriously, your friend needs to warn the guest that he's endangering the public safety of all the hotel guests and document it when it happens. The key words here are PUBLIC SAFETY. The hotel has a responsibility to provide a SAFE stay for all their guests. With a record of endangering PUBLIC SAFETY, it shouldn't be difficult to ask Mr. A-hole to leave and never come back.

The customer is not right when he's a threat to public safety.

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It's not a federal offense, but you could look at charges at the local level.

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In New York, it's the felony of 'tampering with an alarm,' which gets 2- 1/3 to 7 for the first conviction. If a death results, it's second degree felony murder. It's not federal, it's local, which means you are much more likely to be prosecuted, especially if anyone if hurt as a result.