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Eau Claire County, WI, Toughens Alarm Ordinance

Eau Claire County, WI, looks to cut down on the number of false alarms deputies respond to.

Whenever an alarm company calls in a break-in alarm, the home or business owner is now asked whether or not they want law enforcement to respond. In the past, deputies automatically responded. That approach usually took two deputies off patrol and could lead to wasted time if someone wasn't around to turn off the alarm.

"If we're doing this 187 times a year and if you start thinking about the weeks in the year, we're spending way too much time when we should be responding to other calls or being available for other calls that are out there in our area," says Lt. Rod Stearns, Eau Claire County Sheriff's Department.

A new ordinance would also change when folks are billed for false alarms. Currently, home and business owners get a $200 invoice after the fourth false alarm in one year. The sheriff's department is looking to change that to $100 after a second and third false alarm and $330 for the fourth. That change still needs to be approved by the county board. No word on when that could happen.

The change in response will not affect how the department responds to holdup and fire alarms, they will still immediately respond to those calls. 

Lt. Stearns says the new rule is a way to make things more uniform with the Eau Claire Police Department which has had these rules for a number of years. All other law enforcement agencies in the county are doing the same thing.