posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 9:16 AM
by
klehan
Cobb County, GA, Proposes Alarm Ordinance
Owners of homes and business in Cobb County, Georgia. who have security alarms would have to register the systems annually. The proposal also carries a $100 fine for failing to register.
If an alarm system owner has more than 10 false alarms or fails to pay the fine, police will not respond to an alarm unless 911 is called or there is verified criminal activity, according to the proposal.
For a decade, many metro area governments have imposed fines for repeated false alarms. Gwinnett County has had registration since 2001, and many cities, including Marietta, which started Jan. 1, require a no-cost registration. Alpharetta, which for 11 years has had a fine system in place for repeated false alarms, has no registration fee, but imposes a $50 fee for a false alarm from a system that is not registered.
The Cobb proposal that will go before the County Commission does not specify a registration fee.
The Cobb ordinance is modeled on one approved by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. Cobb Major Prince said he hoped a benefit of the Cobb ordinance would be to create more responsibility. "Now government will have the information that this is my alarm at my residence. We hope that will make a difference," Prince said.
Proposed fines for false alarms in a year:
Third time: $50
Fourth: $75
Fifth: $100
Sixth: $125
Seventh: $150
Eighth: $200
Ninth: $250
Tenth: $300