Matthew Santoni, The Examiner
2007-08-31 07:00:00.0
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Harford County -

Harford County Executive David Craig halted plans to increase fines for false fire alarms tenfold this week, saying he felt the higher penalties were too punitive.

Craig vetoed a bill Tuesday that would raise the maximum fine for repeated false fire alarms from $100 to $1,000, sponsored by County Councilman Dion Guthrie with the intent of spurring property owners to fix faulty alarms and learn how to use them.

The county’s attorneys were already working on revisions to the law governing fines when Guthrie introduced his bill last month, and officials were already cutting down on false alarms with aggressive follow-ups with repeat offenders, Craig said.

“We’re making sure that we contacted people with false alarms, telling them about the punishment and making sure it didn’t continue,” Craig said. Other administrative changes, such as reviewing false alarms more often and notifying owners of repeat offenses weekly would help cut down on the problem further, he said.

At the end of 2004, before he took office, Craig said the county recorded almost 1,600 false alarms. With the increased follow-ups and reviews, false alarms were cut to 604 in 2006, Craig said. His administration’s further revisions to the law, meant to clarify whether property owners, business owners or alarm companies would pay the fine, would be ready in the next few months, he said.

Guthrie, who also introduced a similar bill increasing the fines for false burglar alarms with the support of the Sheriff’s Office, said he didn’t understand Craig’s decision.

“It doesn’t make sense to me that he vetoes this bill and signs the sheriff’s bill — they’re essentially the same,” Guthrie said.

Craig’s veto could be overridden with five of the seven County Council members’ votes, and will likely be on the agenda for the Sept. 4 meeting, Guthrie said.

“It won 6-1 before, and if everybody votes the way they did before there will be no trouble overriding the veto,” he said.

Councilman Richard Slutzky voted against both bills after he failed in an attempt to exempt public and private schools from the penalties.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com