Alarm Owners Have Two Weeks to Register in Wheeling
Penalties to be enforced beginning Oct. 15
WHEELING — For years, false burglar alarm calls have overburdened Wheeling Police Department patrol units. The city’s new Wheeling False Alarm Reduction Program of fines and required alarm registrations goes into effect today to help alleviate that burden.
But those who have alarms at their residence or business need not panic — yet. Police say they won’t charge a fine for the first, false burglar-alarm offense, and police have given a 15-day grace period to register, according to a news release from police.
Registration numbers have been on the low side, according to police. As of this week, there were a total of only 71 commercial burglar alarms registered, and 163 residential alarms.
Anyone with a burglar alarm in the city of Wheeling that isn’t registered by Oct. 15 will face a $100 civil penalty. There’s also a $25 fine for failing to renew the registration each year.
“The trend of false alarm calls continues to climb each year,” the release states. But this program should help steady the number of false alarm calls, as residents and businesses repair faulty systems, rather than pay a fine each time police are called to a false alarm, said Philip Stahl, police spokesman.
Wheeling City Council approved the false alarm ordinance last October, requiring any business owner or homeowner with a burglar alarm system to register their system. Cry Wolf Services later won the bid to manage the alarms registration program.
Fines under the program are structured as follows:
∫ First offense — no penalty
∫ Second offense — $50, or the alarm owner can opt to attend an alarm-user class to have the penalty waived.
∫ Third and fourth offenses — $100
∫ Fifth and sixth offenses — $200
∫ Seventh and eighth offenses — $300
∫ Ninth and subsequent offenses — $400
In 2012, an overwhelming number of burglar alarm calls were false: 99.4 percent of the 1,373 calls, the release states. That means only seven of those calls resulted in an actual emergency. Also, 66 addresses each produced five or more false alarms. One address had 29 police responses that year.
There are online and phone options for registering.
Register at crywolfservices.com/wheelingwv, or by calling the Wheeling False Alarm Reduction Program at 855-905-0616.
More information is also available by visiting the website, or by calling that phone number.
Some alarms are exempt from mandatory registration. Life Alert, fire alarms and car alarms don’t need to be registered, according to the release.
COMMENTS