Kunkle’s argument is that the false alarms are sucking up too many resources. I can see a point here. Why should the entire tax base have to fund a program that’s apparently being abused by a small segment of the community? So, why not see if we can even that out a bit? If they’re such a problem, maybe they should carry more of the burden?

If they’re sucking up the resources, shouldn’t they be paying to replace them? I think that if the resources were being replaced that Chief Kunkle's complaint would be a non-issue. Isn’t that what the fine for the false alarm is for? I see they don’t consider it “excessive” until you have had more than 8 in a 12 month period. I think that perhaps we should revisit the definition of excessive.

I think anything more than 2 or 3 a year is excessive. I’ve operated in all sorts of environments that have alarms and, operated properly, there shouldn’t one every other month. Maybe if you make the employees pay the fine, they’ll be more careful next time. If you’re hiring employees that are that can't operate your alarm, hire someone who can. I don’t really know what else to tell you about that. Maybe you should try arming the alarm yourself.

If it happens too often, tack on a punitive fine. I'm sure that there are other and probably better ways to do this, but I went with the numbers at my disposal. Here’s my calculations on the deal:

Figuring out what an officer costs per hour

Assuming entry level officers the math would work like this

$39,500 / 52 = $760 /wk / 40 = $19.00 per hour per officer

If you wanted to cover all your bases and be sure that your fine is high enough to cover any officer that might be sent:

$65,000 / 52 = $1250 per week / 40 = $31.25 per hour per officer

Figuring out what a police car costs per hour

We can figure out what the purchase and maintenance fees for the car are and work out what that costs per hour.

Purchase price, fully equipped = $50,000

Expected life span = 3 years

Annual maintenance = $20,000 ( a number I pulled out of the rabbit hat but a best guess considering the abuse that most police cars take)

Gas = $2.69 / gal

50,000 / 3 = $16667 / 365 = $45.66 / 24 = $1.90 just for the purchase price of the car

20,000 / 365 = $55 / 24 = $3.00

2.69 x 5 = $13.45

$2 + $3 + $13.50 = $37.00

Figuring out the punitive fine

Start with $200 for the 4th and beyond false alarm per year

For each subsequent excessive alarm, the fine increases $50

Example, you have 6 false alarms = $200 (#4) + 250 (#5) + 300 (#6) = $750 paid into the police department specifically for hiring more officers and buying patrol cars. That, by the way, is enough to hire our entry level guy for a week.

Figure a one hour minimum visit at the scene and one hour for paperwork, tack on a bit for book keeping, dispatch, and voila – enough money to hire more officers to cover the false alarms.

$125 for the officers + $37.00 for the car for 2 hours + (1 hour of dispatcher time) + (salary of a book keeping person to handle the money/number of false alarms per year) + punitive fine = what the fine ought to be.