By Linda B. Blackford
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
If you have an alarm system in your home or business, get ready.
On Sunday, Lexington police start a new program to cut down on the number of false alarms. Last year, 93 percent of calls to which police responded were false.
The new program -- already implemented in Cincinnati and Fairfax, Va. -- requires alarm system owners to register with the police department, providing a $15 fee and two names to be contacted if an alarm goes off. That way, there is someone else to call before police send a car, usually with two officers in it.
If systems continue to go off for no reason, the police will start fining the owners after the fourth false alarm.
“We do spend a lot of time responding to non-emergencies,” said Sgt. April Brown, who heads the False Alarm Reduction Unit. “This will help us have fewer false alarm calls.”
Lexington Herald Leader (http://www.kentucky.com/)