posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 9:46 AM
by
klehan
Fines Reduce Number of False Alarms in Winston-Salem, NC
Since enacting a false-alarm ordinance in 2003, the city of Winston-Salem has collected nearly $1 million in fines, and the measure has led to a reduction in the number of false alarms.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported that fines have helped reduce the number of false police alarms from nearly 17,000 in the last six months of 2002 to about 10,300 for all of 2007.
Once location, a substance abuse center, had 12 false burglar alarms and one false fire alarm in 2006. That's the most at one location in the city that year, and it cost the agency nearly $2,300.
The city doesn't charge for the first three false alarms at a home or a business. After that, there are charges of $50 to $500 for each false alarm.
A police spokesman says that before the ordinance, a faulty alarm could lead him to make six visits to the same house in one night. He said police eventually stopped responding to the faulty alarms.