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Repeated false alarm calls answered by the Asbury Park Police and Fire departments will come with an incremental penalty fee beginning in August, city officials announced Tuesday.

A new law was created to incentivize property owners to correct repeated false alarms calls in order to save taxpayer money spent on emergency responses, according to a news release.

“Police resources are at a premium in a city that’s growing as quickly as Asbury Park is,” said Acting Police Chief Anthony Salerno. “And as Asbury’s growth rises exponentially, the number of false alarms we’ve been getting has also risen exponentially.”

The false alarm calls can result not only in a loss of revenue and productivity for businesses, but can put emergency responders at unnecessary risks and place a drain on the emergency responders resources, officials said.

Those who must immediately heed the warning are property owners who have had repeated calls for service. City officials recommend updating and/or correcting the security system.

Salerno said in the past seven months the police department responded to over 35 false alarms from a single location, a scenario that is not uncommon.

“Having police officers go to investigate easily-preventable false alarms costs the taxpayer money, and it requires us to put additional officers to support these added calls for service,” Salerno said. “It takes a police officer out of service to handle other calls that come in to us, or to be proactively policing in the City.”

Fire Chief Kevin Keddy estimates his department can respond to one or two false alarms per day.

“The fire department is instrumental to public safety,” Keddy said. “If we are responding to a false alarm, we are unavailable to help in a real fire, emergency, or rescue situation. This may come at the expense of a lost life, lost reaction time, endangerment to the responders, or prevent department resources from arriving on a scene where they are legitimately needed.”

Once enforcement begins, property owners will be give two free passes each year but the third call will trigger incremental fees. The third false alarm call will result in a $50 fine; the fourth call, a $100 fine; and a $200 fine will be issued for the fifth false alarm call. Penalties for over five false alarm calls will be determined by a Municipal Court Judge.

Both Salerno and Keddy see the measure as way to prevent the cry-wolf idiom.

“If people become desensitized to fire alarms- because so many are being called unjustly- they may not react, putting their lives, and the lives of others, in danger,” said Chief Keddy. “This reduces the confidence of the general public, which is dangerous.”

The ordinance can be read in full at cityofasburypark.com.

[file photo used in featured art]

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