The Duluth City Council voted Tuesday to start charging businesses and individuals for excessive false security alarms, which police say cost the city more than $170,000 last year.
Police will continue to respond to initial alarms for free, but the third time police respond to an address for a false alarm now will come with a $100 service fee. The fourth response will cost $200 and the fifth will cost $300.
The Police Department asked the council to pass the charges as a way to cut down on the time officers dedicate to false alarms. In 2008, only 11 out of 2,389 alarms were legitimate, Police Chief Gordon Ramsay said. Responding to the alarms cost the department $171,216.
Only Garry Krause voted against the false alarm fees, saying it could discourage people from getting alarms.
"I would never want to send any form of message in our community that would potentially inhibit putting in an alarm system," Krause said.
