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Bogus alarms costing time

Police ask council to consider imposing false alarm bylaw

Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012 03:00 am | By Sylvia Cole

The number of bogus alarms going off in town is up 40 per cent, prompting RCMP to call on council to help rectify the problem.

Cpl. AJ Mand met with council Jan. 23 to discuss the number of calls the police had in 2011.

In 2010, 470 calls were made for false alarms; in 2011 the number spiked to 772.

“This takes up so much of our time,” explained Mand. “They come in as priority calls so three out of four we’re going to go and check it out.”

He said in some instances they’re returning to the same business three, four or even five times, but said it’s not confined to stores. About 40 per cent of calls are to homes, he said.

“We want owners to take responsibility and find out what’s wrong to alleviate the problem.” He estimates calls would go down by at least 300 if there was a fine in place to encourage people to double check things are in place before setting an alarm.

Hanging objects, or a furnace kicking on are some reasons motion detectors set off, said Mand, adding that at homes sometimes people aren’t setting the alarms properly.

He said if the bylaw is put in place it would be policed by the bylaw officers, with money from the fines going back into the town.

If Innisfail does implement a false alarm bylaw, it will join other surrounding communities such as Didsbury, Carstairs and Olds.

The bylaws in Didsbury and Carstairs were initiated in 2010 because of similar problems. In Didsbury, the person is given a warning the first time their alarm goes off. The second time the fine is $100, doubling to $200 for the third offence and $400 for the fourth. Alarms are counted on a 12-month basis.

Mayor Jim Romane said after council that discussions on this matter need to happen.

“It’s almost twice what it was and that does take up a lot of time. I think it might generate a need for a policy or penalty.”

He said talks will take place in the future, likely when a new staff sergeant comes in.

“We’ll wait for him or her to have those discussions.”

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