Bend PD and Fire Dept. cracking down on false alarms
Alarms can save lives, but when they go off for no reason, they can cost money and resources. In 2015, Bend PD responded to over 2,000 false alarms, Bend fire to over 400.
At Sacred Art of Living in Bend, Program Manager Maryhelen Zabas is familiar with the problem.
“We have about four or five of those a year,” Zabas said.
It’s not the only business in Bend that has several false alarms a year. Some repeat offenders have up to 30.
“In 2015, we responded to over 400 false alarms,” said Dan Derlacki with the Bend Fire Department.
The numbers are even higher for the Bend Police Department. They’re responding to over 2,000 false alarms a year.
“We have actually changed how we respond to false alarms to help alleviate sending a fire truck each time,” Derlacki said.
Bend Fire purchased smaller trucks to help save time and money.
The cost to the taxpayer is significant, and that’s why the city of Bend increased the fines for false alarms in 2012.
The first false alarm triggers a warning letter to the business or residence. The second triggers a $250 fine and the third a $500 fine.
“We want people to have alarms,” said Assistant City Attorney Gary Firestone.
At Sacred Art of Living, there were four false alarms last year, but not every false alarm is created equal.
“We’ve never been fined,” Zabas said.
She said each false alarm was triggered by power outages.
“If there’s a power outage, I can tell you, within five minutes I’m going to get a phone call,” Zabas said.
Zabas said Bend PD responded twice, and the other two times she was able to call them off before they could arrive.
Derlacki said Bend Fire has to respond to each false alarm, as part of its policy.
“We had to issue 160 warning letters last year,” Derlacki said. “Eleven times we had to actually issue a fee.”
It seems to be working. Derlacki said the number of false alarms they respond to has dropped this year.
Meanwhile, Bend PD has not been issuing letters or fines so far. Now they’re changing their tune, in order to curb the rise in false alarms in Bend.
