GREENSBORO, N.C. – The city council here recently passed a false alarm fee increase in an effort to reduce the millions of dollars spent annually responding to nuisance alarms.
Deputy Chief of Police Brian Cheek told WGHP-TV that nearly $3 million was spent in 2013 responding to false alarms in the city.
Of all burglary and/or robbery alarm calls made to Guilford Metro 911, 98% of them are false alarms, according to the WGHP-TV report.
“That’s proactive time that’s taken away from officers each year on these false alarm calls,” Cheek told WGHP-TV. “So we’re wanting to reduce the false alarms to give the officers greater time to connect with community.”
Instead of two warnings, business and homeowners will be warned once before they’re given a $50 fee that increases each time another false alarm occurs. Storm related alarms will not count in the change.
