FONTANA--A new ordinance revamps how police respond to residential burglar alarms.

Police have complained that 99 percent of all alarms are false. But, Morgan Hertel, vice-president of the Inland Empire Alarm Association, says their role is merely to report alarms and oppose any changes.

“We invited both the City Council and the police department to the table several times to discuss this and we’ve been declined each time.”

Under Fontana’s revised ordinance, Deputy Police Chief Alan Hostetter says officers will respond to an alarm only if the monitoring company has verified an intrusion.

“We estimate that responding to false alarms took up approximately the equivalent two full-time police officers’ time.”

That translates to an annual cost of more than $250,000.

Effective October 9th, monitoring companies will be fined if the alarms are unfounded.

The city ordinance in Fontana is the first of its kind in the Inland Empire.

Story Date: September 2, 2010