By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle

Oliver is cracking down and implementing steep fines of up to $900 for repeated false alarm calls to the Oliver RCMP.

The high number of false alarm calls to the Oliver RCMP has increased over the past couple of years. In 2022 there were 114, in 2023 there were 161, and so far in 2024 there have already been 60.

The primary causes of these false alarm calls are accidental activations of the home’s security systems and include “cooking and keypad error, followed by steam, smoking, dust and alarm testing”.

People will soon receive fines that increase in severity with each false alarm call made to the Oliver RCMP. The proposed fee structure will be based on a calendar year and will reset each January. 

The first RCMP response to a false alarm call will result in a simple warning being issued and no fee. The second false alarm will result in a $50 fine. The third will be a $150 fine. The fourth will be a $400 fine. The fifth will be a $600 fine. Any subsequent false alarm calls after that will be subject to $900 fines.

The graduated fees are primarily due to the fact that the false alarm calls are coming from certain problem properties. In 2022, 41 per cent of the calls came from only nine properties, which averaged from four to seven calls per property.

In 2023, 43 per cent of the false alarm calls were received from only nine properties. The number of calls per property ranged from four to 15.

Of the false alarm calls received so far in 2024, 52 per cent of them were from only 4 properties. The calls per property range from three to 16.

It is clear that there are a small number of properties that are responsible for the bulk of the alarm calls, says the town.

The Oliver RCMP detachment receives calls for alarms such as panic alarms, burglar alarms, and entry code alarms, and these calls take time and resources to handle.

Since there is a direct cost in responding to these false alarms, the town says it needs to find a way to reduce the time officers spend responding to them with these new fines.

Rochelle Lougheed, corporate officer for the town noted that the problem properties this year were not the same ones that were problems in previous years.

Mayor Martin Johansen supported the motion and commented that “there is a cost to responding to these alarms and there should be some effort put into not having them continually go on and on. Money gets people’s attention at times.”

Town council passed the motion to prepare this bylaw unanimously. The bylaw will be up for first, second and third reading on June 3, 2024.

The property owner is responsible for the proper use, installation, maintenance and operation of any security alarm system installed in order to prevent false alarms.

The alarm systems that are primarily responsible for these false calls are “monitored security systems” which get directed to the RCMP detachment from third party monitors.

To avoid false alarm fees, owners are encouraged to:

  • Ensure the systems are working properly;
  • Regularly maintain the alarm systems;
  • Regularly update the contact information with the monitoring service and instruct them to contact you prior to contacting police or fire.