By Meagan Pollnow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The number of false burglar alarms reported to Cincinnati police have fallen by at least 3,500 in the year since the city passed a law that fines homeowners and business owners for repeated false alarms, officials said Tuesday.

The reduction has saved Cincinnati police 2,000 hours in work time and earned the city $26,000 in fines collected, Assistant Cincinnati Police Chief Richard Janke told the city's Law and Public Safety Committee.

The law, passed last May, allows police to fine businesses and residents $50 the third time officers respond to a false alarm. The fee increases each time an officer is called to a false alarm - up to $800 for the 10th response.

Research in 1998 indicated that 98 percent of alarm responses in the city were false, according to Janke. City officials have said that officers were called to about 24,000 false alarms yearly at a cost of $500,000.

Councilman David Pepper, committee chairman, said he was pleased with the results. But Councilman John Cranley asked Janke for a list of people who have appealed their fines to make sure the process is fair.

"I'm in general agreement with the policy," Cranley said. "But the way it's written, it makes it seem like you can't get an appeal."

E-mail mpollnow@enquirer.com