1,128 false alarms

When the City of Sault Ste. Marie introduced its alarm bylaw last May, Police Chief Bob Davies was hoping false alarms would be cut by 50 percent.

He didn't make that objective, but he only missed by one quarter of one percent.

Since the bylaw introduction, police have received 1,165 alarm-generated calls, compared to 2,200 for the same period last year.

That, Davies told today's meeting of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board, represents a difference of 48.72 percent.

"I think that we met our goal," the Chief told board members. "There hasn't been any flak from the community."

Valid alarm calls totalled 37, or three percent of total alarms received, the Chief said.

Unnecessary alarms cost $75

The new alarm policy charges $75 for unnecessary false alarms.

After two false alarms at one address, the alarm monitoring company is notified.

After four false alarms, both the alarm holder and company are contacted.

If all else fails, police may suspend service, but so far that hasn't happened even though 173 warning letters have been sent and 46 suspension notifications issued.

Crime factoids

Some other police factoids we thought you'd like to know:

- Attempted thefts of motor vehicles were up 79.4 percent for the first eleven months of 2002, compared to the same period the previous year. Chief Davies says most of the thefts were by joyriders. Older Dodge Chrysler cars are sought by thieves because of the ease with which their ignition systems can be controlled.

- Break-and-enters at businesses were up 55.6 per cent over the same period. Chief Davies attributed that to a rash of summer break-ins by individuals operating separately.

- The total number of public complaints against City Police was 20 last year. December complainants included a local pawnbroker who said he was improperly investigated as a warrant was being executed at his business.

Poppin' fresh crime news

For the freshest police news in town, click daily on the City Police Beat and OPP Police Beat links at the left of this page. These features are updated shortly after 8 a.m. each day with the latest overnight crime news.