Cape Girardeau ordinance proposed to collect on costs for false police, fire alarms

As departmental budgets in the City of Cape Girardeau continue to face constraints, a newly proposed ordinance looks to collect revenue for one ongoing issue in the city — false alarms.

The first reading of the ordinance was heard at Monday night’s Cape Girardeau City Council meeting. The agenda item’s report, prepared by Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair, proposes an annual alarm permit fee of $25 per alarm for both commercial and residential alarms and a graduated fine schedule for all false alarms after the first false alarm in a 12-month period.

Speaking on behalf of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Sgt. Joey Hann stated the intent of the ordinance is not to collect fees but to hold businesses and alarm owners accountable.

“This incentivizes alarm owners to correct their settings, train their employees properly or correct their frequent triggers without draining municipal resources and overwhelming emergency services with unnecessary responses,” Hann stated.

Blair’s agenda report stated police respond to approximately 2,139 false burglar alarms per year, and the Cape Girardeau Fire Department responds to approximately 177 false fire alarms per year.

Fire chief Travis Hollis said the false alarms not only take a financial toll on the department, but also a physical toll, pointing to the adrenaline rush incurred by first-responders when emergency tones sound causing short spikes in heart rates.

Over the years of any given first-responder’s career, sometimes at 2 or 3 a.m., those physical tolls can add up, Hollis explained.

The fire chief also clarified the importance of noting the proposed fees would specifically aim to penalize malfunctioning and unmaintained commercial and residential alarm systems. As an example, Hollis said a residential kitchen fire alarm activation due to burnt popcorn or a similar equivalent would not be subject to penalty since, by nature, the alarm would be functioning as purposed.

According to the agenda report prepared by Blair, the projected annual revenue for the city is $144,375.

“False alarm fees could be expected to average approximately $60,000 in the first year with a 2-5% reduction in the following 2 years based on alarm owner maintenance and correction of faulty alarms in the response to the proposed fees,” Blair stated.

During a discussion of the ordinance at Monday’s meeting, it was said the execution of the fees would be done through the alarm services through which the residential and commercial structures contract their alarm services.