It may be time for those with alarm systems in Fayetteville to make sure they are in good working order. A proposed ordinance coming before the City Council on Jan. 19 would require the registration of alarm systems and would impose penalties for false alarm responses by police.
Police Chief Steve Heaton in advocating for the ordinance in a Jan. 9 memo said 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 a second 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.
If approved, the alarm user will be required to register the alarm with the city, adequately maintain the alarm to reduce or eliminate false alarms and respond to the false alarm location within 30 minutes of notification.
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.
Communications with alarm users will be accomplished through city water bills, the ordinance said.
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, though Heaton is proposing that the ordinance be effective on March 1 if approved by the council.
