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Kettering revises fees for false security alarms

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By Kelli Wynn, Staff Writer 2:33 PM Wednesday, January 6, 2010

KETTERING — If you have more than three false alarms from your home security or business security system within a year, expect to receive an administrative nuisance abatement fee.

The city passed an alarm ordinance on Dec. 10, now in affect, that changes when a fee will be issued to alarm owners.

“It’s our service to respond to alarms,” said Kettering police Officer Michael Burke.

“We find that nearly 98 percent of them are false alarms, and it’s just imperative that the alarm owner has the alarm system operating properly and knows how to operate it to prevent these false alarms.”

The ordinance notes when multiple false alarms occur within a 24-hour period, beginning with the first alarm, it may be counted as one false alarm, unless the alarm user already had three or more false alarms during the same calendar year, Burke said.

City officials decided this new ordinance was more suitable than the previous one, which had been in effect since 2003, Burke said. The old ordinance said the alarm owner would receive a $100 fee for three false alarms within a six month period and a $200 fee, per alarm, for every false alarm afterwards.

The police department is asking anyone who has installed an alarm in their residence or business and has not registered with the Kettering Police Department, to register. That can be done by downloading a registration form at www.ketteringoh.org or by contacting Officer Jennifer Smithhart at (937) 296-3238.

Owners will have a one-time registration fee of $10 and will be asked to renew the registration every two years.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or

kwynn@Dayton

DailyNews.com.