The Columbia city council is considering a new penalty system for home security false alarms.
The ordinance would potentially ding violators with $100 fine after 3 false alarm calls in a year. An alternative to the fine would require offenders to attend an alarm user awareness class to learn more about preventing future false alarms.
According to a city council memo, approximately 98 percent of alarm call responses are the result of false alarms. Each alarm call requires two officers to respond and about 30 minutes of time for each call. The Columbia Police Department initially proposed the ordinance to city council to help reduce the number of false alarm calls.
Fifth Ward Councilman Matt Pitzer says, “You can see just by those numbers that there’s an incredible amount of resources tied up in responding to false alarms.”
The proposed ordinance also wants to ensure that alarm companies are held accountable for false alarms by ensuring that the companies are licensed, have updated information on alarm users and provide instructions on the use of the alarm system to clients.
The ordinance is expected to be voted on by city council at the next meeting scheduled for November 6th.