Johns Creek Approves 'False Alarm' Ordinance

The Johns Creek City Council on Monday approved an ordinance in the hopes of curbing false alarms.

More than 5,000 false alarms went off in the city in 2012, which the city says diverts resources from real emergencies and places an undue burden on public safety officers.

If "you pass this ordinance ordinance, you'll see the number of false alarms drop drastically," said Johns Creek Fire Chief Jeff Hogan. He described the ordinance as a "win-win" in that it will also education residents and business owners of the process.

No penalty would be imposed on the first and second false police alarm, but $50 would be charged for the third to fifth, with that amount increasing each time.

For fire alarms, there would be no charge for the first false alarm, but a $250 fine would be imposed for each second through ninth alarms, and $500 for each 10th false alarm and over.

The ordinance would also require residents and businesses to register their alarms with the city, with the alarm companies being required to notify clients of the ordinance.

While there would be no charge for registering an alarm under the proposed ordinance, there would be a $100 fee for failure to register.

Non-monitored alarms are exempt from false alarm fines and the registration requirement, but, like monitored alarms, will be fined if an alarm sounds for more than 20 consecutive minutes.