ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The city of Ann Arbor says it is seeing a steep increase in the number of false alarm calls for police service.
It’s response is to boost the charge for a visit by the police department for a false alarm from $82 to $130 this year and then increase it again to $160 and $190 the following two years.
“The false alarm fee is intended to be a deterrent for calls for service related to an alarm system activation where, upon arrival, officers deem that no response was necessary, and no emergency occurred,” the city stated in a memo.
The city states its false alarm fees has not been increased since 2003.
Many other cities have fees to recover the cost of responding to false alarms.
For example, the city of Troy has two different rates for false alarms. One rate is set for registered alarms and the other is for non-registered alarms. For registered alarms the fee is $100 for the third through sixth false alarm and $200 for the seventh through 10th false alarm. After that, each false alarm costs $500.
In Sterling Heights, a false alarm ordinance states that six or more false alarms in a 12-month are deemed a public nuisance. The city can then prosecute the violation in District Court.