Skip to Content

Madison Heights, Mich. gets new alarm ordinance

Madison Heights, Mich. gets new alarm ordinance

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich.--According to an Oct. 14 story in the Daily Tribune, about 1,600 homes and businesses with alarm systems are being notified the city will fine them for repeated false alarms on their systems.

The city's police and fire departments spend about 10 percent of their time responding to false alarms.

The City Council in early 2009 set up a new ordinance with a fine schedule for private alarm owners whose systems consistently go off when there is no real emergency.

The city in early October began mailing educational, ordinance-related postcards to alarm system owners citywide.

The new alarm ordinance fines owners $50 after the third false alarm police have to respond to. The fourth through sixth false alarms cost $100 in fines, with a repair and update inspection required for the sixth offense. A seventh false alarm results in the owner being charged as a public nuisance, a criminal misdemeanor.

Comments

To comment on this post, please log in to your account or set up an account now.