The new year has meant new regulations on security systems for our neighbours to the south. As of January 1, Calgarians must have a permit for home alarms in an effort to reduce false alarms. Airdrie's bylaws are a little different.

"In the city of Airdrie, you don't require an actual permit to have a security system, but we do require that your security system is functional and fully operational and that we're not dispatched to false alarms," said Cst. Jennifer Weedmark with the RCMP.

While the bylaws differ, false alarms are still a problem, and you could pay a hefty fine if police are dispatched for no reason.

"The city of Airdrie has had a bylaw in place for several years now concerning false alarms. Basically, what they have in place is that your first false alarm that you may encounter in your home, we do consider that an infraction but we will provide a warning typically. This goes for residential as well as non-residential buildings. However, your second false alarm within a twelve month period for a residential building, you may have an infraction leading to a $75 cost, and if you're operating a non-residential building with a false alarm, the fee would be $125 dollars if police attend."

Cst. Weedmark said false alarms used to be a major issue, leading the bylaw to come into effect. She also neatly summarized what is considered a false alarm.

"If the police are dispatched and respond to a false alarm, whether they are on route or whether they actually make it to the site and attend, it would be considered officially a false alarm.

Cst. Weedmark recommends a few steps to ensure you don't cause a false alarm. Test your alarms regularly to know what will set them off, make sure everyone in the house knows the code to turn off the alarm, and make sure security companies have a current phone number so that they can reach you.

 

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