Baldwin Park

Owners of burglar alarms that ring in the Police Department will soon pay fines for false alarms. The Baldwin Park City Council, following a trend set by other cities in the San Gabriel Valley, has adopted an ordinance that imposes fines of up to $25 for each false alarm. The ordinance was requested by Police Chief David Snowden, who said 99% of the 2,174 alarms that police responded to last year were false, costing the department 275 man-hours and costing taxpayers an estimated $16,000. The ordinance requires that all new burglar alarms installed in the city have a 30-second delay to give owners a chance to turn them off before they ring in the police station. Owners of existing systems will be allowed 90 days to add this feature. Alarms that ring in homes must have automatic shutoffs after 15 minutes, and those in businesses must have a 30-minute shutoff.