BREA : City OKs Increased False Alarm Fines

The City Council has approved heavier fines for false alarm calls to remedy what officials say is a problem that is costing the city an alarming sum each year.

Residents and businesses would not be charged for three false alarms in a given year, under an amendment to the municipal code passed unanimously this week by the council. However, $25 will be charged for the fourth false alarm, $50 for the fifth and $100 for the sixth call.

For a faulty system, the police may not impose fines if it can be shown during a hearing that there was a good-faith effort by the owner to repair the system.

City Manager Frank Benest said the previous ordinance, which imposed a $25 fee for each false alarm after three free calls, was not working.

“It was perhaps cheaper to pay an occasional $25 service fee to the city for police service than to pay a technician $100 for a call-out,� Benest said in a report to the council.

He said a police study showed that during a one-year period, starting in August last year, there were 756 false alarm calls that required 630 hours in police response time, costing the city more than $22,000.

With the city collecting $13,000 in fines, the resulting shortfall of $9,000 was paid out of the general fund, which the city cannot afford at a time of declining tax revenue, Benest said.

Under the new fees, the city is expected to collect more than $25,000, based on the same number of calls and repeat calls as in the one-year police study.

Residents who spoke on the issue at the council meeting were divided on the increased fees.

“During a recession, this is asinine,� said resident David Martin, who charged that small businesses would be hurt.

Another resident, Bill Vega, said false alarms are a technology problem that sometimes people have no control over.

“A cat left in the house may trigger an alarm,� he said. “A $100 fine is ridiculous. Let’s not make it exorbitant to be a slap in the face.�

However, resident Jean O’Brien, citing the graduated fees, said it should be adopted, and another resident, John Mynes, said it will lead to better police response. “I think the police deserve this,� Mynes said.

Councilman Glenn G. Parker, who eventually joined the other council members in unanimously passing the amendment, said the increase in fees is intended to enforce compliance. “This is one way of solving the (false alarm) problem,� Parker said.