Columbia, SC to establish ordinance to crack False Alarms
By Andrew Fancher
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The City of Columbia says they’re exploring different ways to prioritize public safety amid growing vacancies in the Columbia Police Department (CPD).
In a budget workshop conducted by the city council on Tuesday, CPD Chief William “Skip” Holbrook proposed a change to City Ordinance 10-2, False Security Alarm User fees.
In his discussion with the council, Chief Holbrook asked the city to raise fines for repeat false alarm occurrences in an effort to mitigate unnecessary workload in his department.
The push for increased fines comes after CPD reported 4,490 false alarm calls for service in 2022. According to Holbrook, first responders were exhausted with an average of 12.30 false alarm calls daily.
“The intent of this [proposed ordinance] is to change behavior. We have 94% of our calls false alarms. We need the people who have alarm systems to accept responsibility, to make sure those are accurate calls when they come into CPD,” said Councilman Howard Duvall, a proponent for the increased fees.
Current fees for repeat false alarm calls start at $25 on the third occurrence and jump to $100 on the fourth or more occurrences.
This week’s proposed fees start at $100 on the third through seventh occurrence, $250 on the eighth through ninth occurrence, and $500 on the tenth and up.
“We’re trying to make this real. These calls aren’t coming from your grandmother’s house. It’s coming from some business… You get 10 chances before you get to a real, impactful fine. My kids don’t get 10 chances before they have an impactful fine. I promise you that,” said Councilman Peter Brown, an additional proponent for the increase.
WIS spoke with Columbia-based business owners who support the proposed fee increase, so as not to overwhelm a less-than-fully staffed police department.
“We should abide. I like that law because we should fix our alarms not to waste law enforcement’s time. If law enforcement comes here more than three times, they should charge. They should. Because that’s their time and effort,” said Nayeem Shaik, longtime owner of the GF Food Mart on Garners Ferry Road.
Shaik told WIS he’s operated his corner store for two decades and has never had a problem managing his alarm system.
If the ordinance passes, city manager Teresa Wilson said CPD will employ the help of a software company titled CryWolf. This is to keep track of repeat false alarm offenders and help enforce the proposed fees.
“It’s kind of like the little boy who cried wolf. We want to make sure that residents and business owners do get adequate service delivery when they are in need. So, if we’re constantly having false alarms, it comes across like it’s always going to be a false alarm when it may be that time that it’s not,” said Wilson during her interview in town hall.
Wilson, Duvall and Brown said they wanted to make clear the proposed ordinance is not meant to target business owners but incentivize them to learn how to use their alarm system correctly.
The proposed ordinance is similar to an active one in Charlotte, where council members noted a 60% reduction in false alarm calls following its passing.
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