An ordinance aimed at reducing the number of false alarm calls was adopted unanimously by the Fayetteville City Council on Jan. 2. The ordinance will become effective on April 1 and will include a 30-day grace period during which warnings but no citations will be issued.
The first false alarm during the permit year carries no charge. Penalties totaling $50 will apply with the second and third false alarm calls, $75 for the fourth call, $100 for the fifth call, $125 for the sixth, $150 for the seventh, $200 for the eighth, $250 for the ninth false alarm call and $300 for the tenth call during the permit year.
The proposed ordinance includes several requirements. Among those are a no-cost alarm registration, no charge for the first false alarm, the option to take an “alarm-user class” in lieu of paying a fine for the second false alarm, a non-criminal civil penalty and and appeal process.
Users will also be required to furnish alarm companies with two contact numbers so that 911 dispatchers will have two avenues of contact.
Police Chief Steve Heaton had noted in previous meetings that false alarms unnecessarily utilize personnel and fuel to respond to verify whether or not an alarm is legitimate. The downturn in the economy has added to the need to reduce fuel costs and maximize personnel resources, Heaton said.
Heaton said another reason for proposing the ordinance rests with the fact that there is no current accountability or requirement that alarms must be used properly.
The ordinance applies to all alarm users, whether residential, businesses or government buildings, outfitted with an alarm system that generates a signal to which law enforcement is requested to respond.
Communications with alarm users on registration details and ongoing communications will be accomplished through city water bills and other means. Registation will begin in March and can be accomplished online, mail-in or walk-in.
Making the case for the ordinance, Heaton said that 20 percent of dispatched calls for service involved alarm calls. The statistical breakdown for 2011 showed 2,066 alarm calls in the city with 1,656, or 80 percent, being false alarms. Similarly, 75 percent of the alarm calls in 2010 were false alarms as were 80 percent of total alarm calls in 2009, Heaton said.
Using the 2009 figures, Heaton said the 1,833 false alarm calls required an average of 45 minutes per response. The 1,242 man-hours per year lost by responding to false alarms amounted to lost time that officers could have been involved in other duties, Heaton said. During the same period, and based on an average of five miles per response, meant that officers drove 8,280 miles that year in responding to false alarm calls.
Heaton also cited the significant reduction in alarm calls in Cobb County where false alarm activations decreased 43 percent after the ordinance was adopted and in Marietta where calls were reduced by 62 percent in two years.
The permit year will begin each January.
