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Charleston (SC) Looks to Follow Example, Reduce Alarms Via Law

It's a situation that Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen finds alarming.

Charleston police officers have been answering nearly 1,200 false alarms from homes and businesses each month, on average, with each call tying up two officers for about 20 minutes.

And more than 99 percent of the time, it turned out the alarm was set off by accident.
Over the past 11 months, those false-alarm calls have consumed more than 8,700 hours of police officer time, which is worth nearly $350,000 to the city, the police department calculated.

Mullen said he hopes the city can address the problem by fining people responsible for more than three false alarms each calendar year. He says the threat of fines in other towns and cities has successfully cut down on false alarms.

Summerville has had a similar ordinance for years, and it is credited with cutting the number of false alarms nearly in half the year after it was passed.

'It's really worked out well,' said Summerville Police Lt. James Bateman, who tracks fines issued by the town. 'Even though our population has grown and we have more businesses with alarms, the number of false alarms has gone down.'

As Mullen proposes, Summerville allows three false alarms each year. After that, Summerville levies a fine of $30 for the fourth false alarm, $50 for the fifth and sixth, and $100 after that.

'We have had several people who got bills in excess of $2,000, but they only had that one year,' Bateman said. 'The habitual offenders have all but stopped.'
He said businesses hit with big fines for repeated false alarms typically trained their employees better, resolving the problem.

In Charleston, the proposed fine is $50 for the fourth through sixth false alarm in a year, and $100 for each one after that.

'There are lots of reasons for false alarms, but the ones we are trying to prevent are the ones based on negligence,' Mullen said Wednesday. 'The ones we are trying to prevent are the ones where somebody goes in and forgets the alarm was set, and the alarm goes off and the alarm company calls the police.'

Burglar alarms also can be set off by electrical storms, and Mullen said people wouldn't be fined in those cases.

'We think alarms are good, but we want people to be more responsible,' Mullen said. 'We just want to stop wasting resources.'

Mullen said the department would work with alarm owners and alarm companies to reduce false alarms and plans to offer education classes for owners who have had multiple false alarms.

Charleston City Council is expected to decide on the proposed regulations when it meets on May 6.

The proposed ordinance won preliminary approve from council on Tuesday night.