Citing a concern for public and officer safety, Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial is asking City Council to pass changes that would result in a fine for false-alarm reports.

False burglar, hold-up and fire alarms have become an ongoing challenge for first responders in Whitefish. According to Dial, last year there were 124 false fire alarms and 285 false burglar, robbery and intrusion alarms.

“Since I’ve been here as chief 12 years, we’ve had one true alarm that someone was in a building,” Dial said. “We always respond code with alarms, which puts us and the public in peril.”

Fire Chief Tom Kennelly concurred that false alarms can be burdensome to the fire department.

“We do have abuse,” Kennelly. “There’s one bar downtown where we were there at least three times in one month and we have no leverage to speed them in getting their alarm fixed.”

Dial recommends the city establish a fee schedule to reimburse the city for resources and endangering the public and responders while encouraging home and business owners to be more responsible for their actions.

Under the proposed fee schedule, there would be no charge for the first false alarm call. The second false-alarm report would result in a $300 fee, while the third and subsequent false alarms would cost $500. Businesses would get one free alarm per year.

The ordinance would allow for the fee to be waived, at the city manager’s discretion, if it is determined the alarm was caused by factors off-premises. Construction at a neighbors home that sets off the alarm or a malfunction by the alarm company are examples of times when the fee would be waived.

False alarms happen for a plethora of reasons — workers entering a wrong alarm code, homeowners leaving doors or windows open and setting the alarm, bank employees inadvertently pushing a panic alarm and mechanical malfunctions. There is no way for officers or firefighters to know if an alarm is false, Dial said.

Dial said that first responders are highly trained and sensitive to complacency, and routinely answering false alarms can lead to an officer or firefighter letting their guard down and being injured or killed.

Residential false alarm calls often come from second homes.

“There’s one house that we have that I’ve been in probably more times than the owner,” Dial said. “A lot of resort towns have these regulations. The only way to make them police themselves is to make them pay.”

Council agreed Feb. 3 during a work session to vote on the matter following a public hearing.

Councilor Jen Frandsen asked if the ordinance is approved that owners be notified of the change. It was suggested that a notice could be sent out with the city water bills.