MOBILE, Ala. — Mobile Police Chief James Barber is taking a stand on false alarms.
Homes and businesses with alarm systems will be asked to register their security systems with the city. Homeowners will be charged $25 per year and business owners $50. The purpose of the registration is so the police department can find out if a falsely-activated alarm is the alarm company’s fault or the alarm owner’s fault, according to WKRG in Mobile.
Barber estimates that the Mobile Police Department responds to 30,000 false alarms per year, which wastes time and money for the department.
If an alarm system that isn’t registered with the city is activated and turns out to be faulty, the city will be able to fine the owner $100 and refuse to respond to future alarms at the property.
While some might think a false alarm is not a huge inconvenience for police, Mobile Police say that every false alarm requires two officers to go out of their rotation for 45 minutes to an hour, according to the report.
