False alarms prove costly for some

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A city law that is supposed to curb false alarm calls in Albuquerque is having a big impact on local businesses and home owners who have to pay fines, but it’s having no effect on city-owned facilities where false alarm calls are sky high.

While private property owners are subject to fines, government agencies don’t have to pay a dime.

“They are exempt from registering and renewing their permits, and they are exempt from paying false alarm fees,” Lt. Jeff Remington said.

Remington is the head of the Albuquerque Police Department’s False Alarm Reduction Unit.

Under the ordinance passed in 2003, private property owners start getting fined after more than three false alarm calls in a calendar year. The fines begin at $150 and then go up to $500 after 10 false alarm calls.

The law was passed to keep emergency responders from wasting their time. At one point, Albuquerque police were spending more than 50,000 man-hours responding to false alarm calls every year.

“Especially if there are fines involved, they are likely to get the problem fixed,” Remington said.

However, a close look at the city’s top false alarm offenders shows a persistent problem at city-owned facilities.

11 city buildings are among the top 20 for false alarm calls at government buildings, with 118 false alarm calls in 2009. Of those, police responded to 88. There were no fines.

The problem with false alarms at city properties is so great, the city just began a six-month pilot program with a private security firm to respond to the calls and free up police. The program will cost of $17,500.

Sally Mayer, the former city councilor who sponsored the ordinance when it passed, said the law might need to change again.

“Just having somebody respond is not fixing the problem,” Mayer said. “It is not rocket science. It’s easy if you pay attention, and you pay attention if there’s an incentive to pay attention.”

Stopping false alarms is as simple as calling an alarm company and having an analysis of what may be triggering the system, Mayer said.

Workers at the city’s Cesar Chavez Community Center told News 13, their false alarm problem lies with an air-flow issue that prevents some of the front doors from closing properly.

The community center had 18 false alarm calls in 2009. Police responded to 13.

Staffers with the new mayoral administration say they are now working to reduce the number of false alarms at city buildings, and to develop a plan to keep the number low.

“We are going to address it,” public safety spokesperson T.J. Wilham said. “The mayor has set a timetable that he wants us to be back in six months with new data to him, and we will.”

News of the city’s failure to curb false alarms at city-owned facilities was disappointing to business owner Cassandra Olguin, who paid more than $1500 in fines in 2009 because of a problem with her alarm at Nana’s Trattoria restaurant.

“It’s not fair,” Olguin said. “We’re a small business. We get charged a lot of money.”