False Alarm Update: Mobile, Honolulu, Olathe
MOBILE, Ala.
Police in Mobile, Ala., say that a system of fines has helped reduce false burglar alarms 30 percent in the past five years. After 38,000 false alarms in 1999 spurred the city to pass a new alarm ordinance, police recorded 11,124 false alarms in 2004 according to the Mobile Register.
Thus far, the city has resisted pleas from some city leaders to institute some form of verified response like that recently passed in Dallas.
Under the 1999 ordinance, alarm customers get four “free” false alarms within a calendar year and are fined $50 for each false alarm thereafter.
In other false alarm news …
HONOLULU:Police in Hawaii’s capital city report 27-percent fewer false alarms this year compared to the year when a city ordinance was passed that requires residents and businesses to register electronic security systems.
According to the Honolulu Advertiser, police say there have been approximately 24,000 false alarms in Honolulu in 2005, compared to more than 33,000 in 2002 when the ordinance was passed.
The ordinance forced all alarm owners to pay a $15 registration fee upon the activation of their system and $5 for each year of renewal. The ordinance also has a $50 fine for a fourth false alarm within a year that can be waived by attending an alarm awareness class.
OLATHE, Kan.:The city council in the Kansas City suburb rejected a call by the local police chief for annual alarm registration fees to pay for false alarms.
The Johnson County Sun reports the Olathe Council on Dec. 20 tabled a proposed ordinance that would have charged annual alarm registration fees of $25 for residents, $50 for businesses and $100 for alarm companies.
The council still plans to consider at its Jan. 10 meeting whether to pass lower registration fees and/or a set of false alarm fines.
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