A St. Louis city ordinance passed more than two decades ago with “no teeth” has led to several hundred thousand dollars in uncollected fines, says Comptroller Donna Baringer.
Baringer’s office last month released an audit showing more than $750,000 in unpaid fines related to security systems that repeatedly led to false alarm calls to city police. “This is something that needs to get fixed,” she says.
She says the problem dates back to 2004, when the Board of Aldermen amended an ordinance related to security systems to include fines for false alarms causing officers to respond to the scene of non-crimes. The first false alarm is without penalty. A second one in 12 months triggers a fine of $25, and the numbers increase incrementally thereafter. After four false alarms in a 12 month period, police response to the alarm is suspended…