{"id":8439,"date":"2025-10-17T14:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/8439\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T14:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:48:10","slug":"lubbock-police-defend-updated-alarm-ordinance-amid-resident-backlash-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/8439\/","title":{"rendered":"Lubbock police defend updated alarm ordinance amid resident backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The Lubbock Police Department is defending the city\u2019s updated alarm ordinance<\/a> after residents and business owners criticized the policy online as a \u201ccash grab\u201d for the city.<\/p>\n

The department said the ordinance, which went into effect Oct. 1, is designed to reduce false alarms and keep more officers available for true emergencies.<\/p>\n

Police first posted about the policy on social media Tuesday. Since then, the department has received hundreds of comments, emails and phone calls from people with concerns.<\/p>\n

Policy targets false alarm costs<\/p>\n

In the department\u2019s Facebook post, LPD says in any given year, officers respond to about 18,000 alarm calls – more than 75% of which are false alarms. In a press conference hoping to clear up misconceptions Thursday, Assistant Chief Nathan White said at least three out of every four alarm calls are false alarms. The City\u2019s website says those false alarms cost LPD about $255,000 annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we needed to find a way to reduce those numbers so that our officers are available for high priority calls and to proactively patrol our city,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n

The revised policy<\/a> requires residents and businesses with automated alarm systems, through which third-party vendors call law enforcement for suspected burglaries or robberies, to obtain permits<\/a>. Permits cost $50 per year, or $25 for those 65 and older.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when there\u2019s an upfront cost, alarm owners tend to keep their systems in good working order. They tend to test their batteries, update contacts, train users on how to best use the system,\u201d White said. \u201cOther cities have used this model and implemented in their cities, and it\u2019s helped drive down their false alarms.\u201d<\/p>\n

White said the policy also addresses officer safety concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to that, every alarm call that our officers go to can be dangerous. And we have examples of officers, even one within our own region, where an officer responded to a false alarm and was shot and killed by the homeowner,\u201d White said. \u201cSo any amount that we can reduce our officers having to go to these false alarms makes their job safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

White says the permit process allows the city to better identify repeat offenders. After the initial permit cost, there is no fine for the first three false alarms in a year. Four to five false alarms result in a $50 fee, with fees capped at $100 per incident after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen comments talk about the fines and fees going to bonuses for officers and officer salaries. That\u2019s not true. That\u2019s not what happens. All of that money goes to the general fund of the city,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n

Policy details and exceptions<\/p>\n

Permit holders can appeal false alarm fees. The ordinance does not apply to self-monitored security cameras, and wind setting off alarms will not count as violations.<\/p>\n

The department is working to remove online language suggesting officers won\u2019t respond to calls for alarms without valid permits.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me clarify. We will respond to an alarm call. If an alarm call comes to our dispatch center, we\u2019ll go and make sure that everything\u2019s okay,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n

However, property owners without permits can be fined if calls turn out to be false alarms.<\/p>\n

Council review planned<\/p>\n

District 5 Councilwoman Jennifer Wilson said she plans to bring the ordinance back to the city council agenda for a work session after receiving complaints.<\/p>\n

Wilson posted a statement to social media saying the council needs to find the \u201cright balance between public safety, fairness, and practicality.\u201d She urged residents to continue sharing feedback about the plan.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The Lubbock Police Department is defending the city\u2019s updated alarm ordinance after residents and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[7975,7976,7984,7978,7990,7982,992,7985,7974,2429,7981,7983,7987,168,170,169,1526,2349,7989,5804,2817,3686,672,7977,7986,7980,3961,1525,7979,7833,7988],"class_list":["post-8439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-alarm","tag-amid","tag-availability","tag-backlash","tag-brittany-crittenden","tag-cash","tag-city","tag-council","tag-defends","tag-department","tag-false","tag-grab","tag-jennifer","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-media","tag-money","tag-nathan","tag-new","tag-officer","tag-ordinance","tag-police","tag-resident","tag-review","tag-revised","tag-safety","tag-social","tag-updated","tag-white","tag-wilson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}