How to Waste $4.1 Million

THE PERSISTENT HOWL OF A neighbor’s burglar alarm: To nearby residents, it’s a petty annoyance; but to the Dallas Police Department. it’s a custly burden. In 1994, DPD responded to more than 134,000 alarm calls-99 percent of which were false. Handling these false alarms, which constitute more than 50 percent of all the calls answered by the North Central division, costs the city $4.1 million each year. Police officials say the expense translates to having SO fewer cops combing the streets for crime.

A new city ordinance that takes effect Jan. 1 aims to control the cost of crying wolf by going after those who operate an alarm without a permit. ( Of the 1994 calls, fewer than half the alarms had a valid permit, which costs $25 for residential users and $50 for commercial users.) Alarm companies often neglect to stress the importance of paying for an alarm permit because they don’t want to dissuade potential customers with additional charges. But the new law is “no permit, no dispatch,” meaning police will not respond to locations without the per-mit. Of course if a panic button is pressed or a neighbor calls to complain about a noisy siren, the cops will always come, but the permit-less then face a fine between $200 and $500.

Police hope the measure will at least generate revenue to help them fight the war on false alarms, but significantly reducing the number of bogus burgles will prove more difficult because of restrictions imposed by state law. Currently, cities can charge service fees only after someone’s fifth false alarm in a year, and that fee cannot exceed $50. “Other cities have cut their alarm costs in half,” says Sgt. John McCaghren, supervisor of the Dallas alarm squad. “But not in Texas. If we could simply reduce the number of allowed false alarms to four, that alone would free up an additional 38 patrol officers.”